'Lolo & Sosaku' The Western Archive
Sound artists Lolo & Sosaku become modern cowboys rummaging for sounds in the desert’s vastness.
66'
Spain
IFFR 2024
Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s debut feature Banel & Adama showcases the mythic love between the eponymous couple in a remote Senegalese village, but it is the conjunction in the title that is at the heart of this scorching romantic drama. “Without Adama, you’re nothing”, quips Banel’s twin brother, upset at his sister’s fanatic attachment to her new husband.
Adama, for his part, has turned down his hereditary right to be the village chief, content instead to live in marital bliss with Banel. Together, they work at unearthing a house buried in sand outside the village, hoping to carve out a private niche away from this community where everything unfolds in public spaces. However this spirit of independence won’t be easily tolerated, and the village is soon visited upon by a deadly drought, severely straining the bond between the lovers.
As Banel, Khady Mane traverses the terrains of infatuation, determination, obsession and guilt with conviction and an almost evangelical fervour. Her emotional capacities grow as the film itself expands from a gentle ode to teenage romance to an operatic saga of divine tribulations. Through her persistence, Banel & Adama unveils a star-crossed love story of Biblical proportions.
– Srikanth Srinivasan
IFFR 2024
Programme IFFR 2024
Echoing Rotterdam’s port city identity, Harbour offers a safe haven to the full range of contemporary cinema that the festival champions.
Read more about this programmeSound artists Lolo & Sosaku become modern cowboys rummaging for sounds in the desert’s vastness.
66'
Spain
IFFR 2024
A candid grassroots record of the non-violent protests against India’s controversial farm laws.
151'
India
IFFR 2024
Kung Fu masters, slingshot gangs and French mercenaries battle it out in a vigorous actioner.
108'
China
IFFR 2024