The Franc
Djibril Diop Mambety (Senegal, 1994)
(Le Franc). The Franc is a folkloric slice of modern life in Senegal. Marigo is a down-and-out musician who is chronically unable to pay rent. After his landlady takes revenge by destroying his congoma, his beloved instrument, Marigo decides to enter the lottery. Laced with Marigo's richly colored dreams of fame, wealth, and huge orchestras, The Franc is simple and impressionistic while drawing on Mambety's ironic views of the social and economic problems that breed alienation in present-day African societies. Best Short Narrative, S.F.I.F.F.

Rocking Popenguine
Moussa Sene Absa (Senegal, 1994)
(Ça Twiste à Poponguine). Rocking Popenguine (better known by its literal title Twisting in Popenguine) deals with teenagers-an age with one foot in the future, the other in the past-in Senegal of the sixties, like so much of Africa, coping with the transition between colonialism and modernity. It's the proverbial coming-of-age story without the proverbs: a fresh, charming, fast-paced film about teens on the beach. Not Frankie and Annette, but close: the “Ins” (for Inseparables) have adopted the names of French pop stars, Johnny Halliday, Sylvie Vartan, et al, while the Kings have styled themselves after American R&B legends Otis Redding, Ray Charles, and James Brown. The Ins go to school and have all the girls; the Kings work as fishermen, but they have a much-coveted record player. What the Inseparables really want is separation: they want out of this village which seems hopelessly constrained by tradition. Their desire engulfs the village, pitting those who dream against those who remember.