Little Senegal

Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages:o Spanish (subtitles) o English (Dolby Digital 2.0) o French (Dolby Digital 2.0) o Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) Synopsis:This beautifully photographed, touching film follows Alloune, a man who gives tours of the Senegal coastline where long ago his ancestors where imprisoned and shipped across the Atlantic in the slave trade. Through a slender doorway looking out to the wide ocean beyond, participants in Alloune's tour are moved, saddened, and quieted by the thought of what once was. Then one day, Alloune decides that he must track the path of his own ancestors, and so he travels to the southern United States. He wanders from one former plantation to the next, asking questions, looking in libraries, and researching an extended family tree, always carrying the weight of history on his small, long, thin frame. Finally his search leads him to New York City, where he locates a young nephew, and then a female cousin who is about his same age, in her fifties. Taking a job for his cousin as a security guard at her Harlem newspaper stand, Alloune begins the difficult task of adapting to city life. The relationship between Alloune and his cousin starts off as professional, changes to family relation, and finally ends up as a love affair. However, the distance between Africa and New York, history and present, can never be escaped or forgotten.This film screened in New York City in April 2002 as part of the Avignon/New York Film Festival organized by the French Institute Alliance Francaise. Special Features:o Film Creditso Filmographieso Interactive Menuo Scene Accesso Trailer(s) Product Description

Very touching movie about African immigrants' experience in NY

I wonder why there isn't yet a Region1 release of this movie because this is one of the most touching movies I've seen in a while.

An old man works at the little museum on the Isle of Gorée near Dakar from which in the past many thousands of slaves were shipped. For many years he has been going through the archive records. When he discovers that one of his ancestors was shipped off to the USA, he decides to make the trip there to see whether his ancestor survived the journey and whether he may have distant relatives there. At the same time he wants to visit his cousin in NY who is a recent immigrant.

The juxtaposition between the African expectations of life in the USA (or Europe), a dream of nearly every young man I've encountered in Senegal, and the actual experience of living there, is just one element of this fascinating movie.

I recommend this movie to anyone; it touches on an important subject and it is beautifully shot. February 14, 2008

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