“This shape-shifting Senegalese drama is pure cinematic poetry. Slipping in and out of modes with a magician’s confidence, Atlantics is mysterious and mythic, with a wizardly use of sound and some unforgettable images.” —The Telegraph
Fresh from its US premiere at the New York Film Festival, Atlantics is the much heralded feature film debut from French actor-writer-director Mati Diop, the niece of Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambéty (Hyenas). Harnessing fantasy, political drama, and social relevancy, Diop’s haunting tale begins in Dakar with a star-crossed love affair between two teenagers, Ada and Souleiman. When he and a group of exploited young workers disappear in the night in search of a better life abroad, a mysterious fever starts to spread among the women left behind. The story of migrants, class, and sexual politics seduces viewers with a poetic romance that takes on an otherworldly, vengeful edge. Its premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival marked the first time a film by a black woman competed for the Palme d’Or. It went on to win the Grand Prix. The film also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Diop was awarded the inaugural Mary Pickford Award, recognizing emerging female talent. 2019, Belgium/France/Senegal, DCP, in English, Wolof, and French with English subtitles, 105 min.
“Atlantics is a film about being haunted, being spellbound, and the idea that ghosts are created within us. In the writing process, I realized that besides Touki Bouki, by my uncle Djibril Diop Mambety, I hadn’t grown up with any black couple figures worthy of Romeo and Juliet. Through Ada and Souleiman, I wanted to relate an impossible love in the age of rampant capitalism, a love obliterated by injustice, stolen by the ocean.” —Mati Diop
Free tickets for students are available at the box office one hour before Wednesday night’s screening.
)
)