Faat Kiné

Warm and often funny, Faat Kiné is a vibrant tribute to what Ousmane Sembène calls the “everyday heroism of African women.” Faat Kiné is a single mother who holds a job as the manager of a gas station, where she has worked her way up the ladder against considerable odds. Born in 1960, the year of Senegal’s independence, Faat Kiné personifies aspects of Senegal’s struggle for liberation. Her world revolves around her two college-age children, her own mother, her two ex-husbands, and her female friends. Sembène offers a realistic depiction of life in Senegal’s capital city, where shantytowns stand beside modern apartment towers and social problems are prevalent, but it’s still possible to make a good life for oneself. Sembène demonstrates that much of what holds contemporary African society together is the strength of its women. “Sembène’s most hopeful comedy” (Michael Atkinson, Village Voice).