Dakan will inevitably be remembered as the first feature film on homosexuality from sub-Saharan Africa. While "coming out" may have become primetime fare in the U.S., this film was met with angry protests in Guinea and has generated heated debate among Africanists here as well. But beyond its controversial topic, Dakan is a contemporary African reinterpretation of the age-old Romeo and Juliet conflict between love and social convention. Manga and Sori, two lycée students in Conakry, argue and then part over whether to consummate their forbidden love. Each parent warns his son against the relationship ("Since time began, it's never happened"). Each family attempts to "cure" their son's homosexuality, and each son tries unsuccessfully to form a lasting relationship with a woman. Dakan becomes the story of two men who by "coming out" disappear, become invisible to their families and society, because their society has no language that recognizes their love.