This week's Hyde Park Pick

This first feature by Ramata-Toulaye Sy is a fascinating and curious film. The storytelling method surprised me, without giving too much away, it felt like a dreamy romantic haze, creeping into disturbia. How far can their love go, how much can they ignore the needs of their community and their families in the threat of drought. Is love really enough to survive on? I am so interested in the conflicting themes of feminism, tradition, progression and responsibility. It is this kind of innovative and fresh filmmaking I am most excited to present as part of Cinema Africa! These new films show us that we should expect the unexpected from new African talent.

We are particularly lucky to have the director herself in attendance for the preview screening on Monday 11 March, what an opportunity to be able to ask her about her unique style and motivation behind this particular story. The Q&A will be hosted by our very own community activist, Rohie N’Dow of the Leeds Senegalese Community.

We are grateful to the film’s distributor, We Are Parable, an experienced audience development company now making their first forays into film distribution. We Are Parable believe ‘experience over everything’, and this film certainly fits this remit. 

We have a preview screening of Banel & Adama on Mon 11 March at 20:00 and then the film will be showing for a week from Fri 15 March.

You can browse showtimes and book tickets here.