KODOU

Koudou cannot stand the pain of her lips being tattooed and flees. The dishonour and derision of the community and her family drive her out of her mind. Bound hand and foot in a hut, the young girl dreams that she is raped by two men and asks an imaginary horseman for help. But one day, a "horseman" arrives in the village by car and, taking pity on the state of the young girl, takes her to hospital. Psychiatric therapy begins to give some results, then the family decides to organize a ritual of exorcism. Koudou falls into a trance and succeeds in being freed of the spirit that had possessed her. When she returns to the village, the warmth of her family welcomes her back. An allegory of the dilemma between tradition and modernity and on the need to create a new African culture.

"It is not sufficient to reject tradition or return to one's origins to defend ourselves from Westernization. We have to overcome this contradiction between tradition and modernity and go beyond it" (A. Samb-Makharam).

Director: Ababacar Samb-Makharam.
Screenplay: Ababacar Samb-Makharam, Annette Mbaye d'Erneville.
Director of photography: Baidy Sow.
Sound: Jacques Auger, Jules Diagne.
Editor: Claire Pignero.
Cast: Fatou Fall, Madeleine Diallo, El Hadji Seck, Mohamed Latyr Seck, Daouda Seck, Jacques Zwingelstein, Dieynaba Niang, N'Deye Gueye.
Production company: Baobab Films.