Kapila is born on the day of an eclipse of the sun, a ‘visible disharmony in the heavens’. According to local tradition on Madagascar, children born in such circumstances have great and dangerous powers. As a test Kapila has to spend a night among the cattle. He survives this, but not through his own efforts. A young woman with no children saves Kapila and in doing so she changes his fate for ever. Kapila is left crippled in one leg (the name ‘Kapila’ means something like ‘lame’) and is seen as a kind of outcast. The young woman adopts him and takes him to the big city where he is confronted with the harsh and violent side of poverty. When his only friend is beaten to death, he grows up without friends. Once he reaches adulthood, Kapila realises that he has secret powers he cannot control. After his step-mother dies, he goes on a journey that takes him back to his father and his birthplace.Quand les étoiles rencontrent la mer is a mythological fable, inspired by Madagascan legends. Rajaonarivelo has filmed a powerful and stunningly beautiful story exploiting both the wide expanse of Madagascan countryside and the ramshackle alleys of the capital Antananarivo. Rajaonarivelo has a key position in Madagascan cinema: in 1988 he made the country’s first feature Tabataba.
