Xalé + Vorfilm: Timis

Awa, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, spends her teenage years happily alongside her twin brother Adama, who dreams of Europe.

When her grandmother dies, her aunt Fatou and uncle Atoumane promise to marry in order to preserve the family unit. But Fatou does not love Atoumane, and the latter, tired of waiting for his marriage to be consummated, commits an act from which there is no turning back.

Moussa Sene Absa began as a screenwriter for the film Les enfants de Dieu. His first short film, Le prix du mensonge, was awarded the Silver Tanit in Carthage in 1988. In 1991 he directed the feature film Ken Bugul and in 1992 the feature film Ça twiste à Popenguine, which received international acclaim. In 1996, he made Tableau Ferraille (Best Picture at Fespaco 1997), the first part of his trilogy about women, followed by Madame Brouette (Silver Bear, Berlinale 2002) and Xalé (2022). His two feature films, Teranga Blues and Yoole, were selected in the FESPACO competition in 2007 and 2013.

Supporting film: TIMIS
Awa Moktar Gueye
Senegal 2023, 15 minutes, colour
Short film
Wolof with English subtitles

Pa Kong-Kong is a mysterious man who carries a strange bag on his back and nobody knows what is inside. Rumour has it that he torments petty thieves, runaways and naughty children. He lives alone in Netty Mbar, a deserted, gloomy market in a suburb of Dakar, where a terrifying, monster-like dog lurks at night. Binta, a curious and courageous girl, decides to meet Pa Kong-Kong in the middle of the night. She is afraid, but determined to prove that her friends were wrong to choose a girl as their leader.

Awa Moktar Gueye is a graduate of Gaston Berger University in Saint Louis, Senegal. Her films Le Chant des Corbeaux, Mo Mola La Borotti and Jaar Jaar were highly acclaimed by audiences at the Poitier International Film Festival, the Bilbao International Film Festival and the Saint Louis International Documentary Film Festival. Today, Gueye is working with UNESCO and the Nara Residency in Japan to promote the status of women in African cinema. According to Awa Moctar, her stage name, ‘today we attach a lot of importance to appearances, I want to show beauty in a different way. A beauty that opens up and accepts others.’