The film accompanies Magaye Niyang, a star of Touki-Bouki, a 1972 classic directed by her own uncle Djibril Diop. Following this path, we are witness of Niyang travel to a special screening of the film, which has a public release in his old town. Niyang seems detached and with a heavy longing from the past, and therefore, the film debris permeates everything with unescapable sorrow and fascination.
Diop film is, first and foremost, a nostalgic travel through memory, time and recreation. It is also a watermark in contemporary experimental documentary, a very intimate portrait of a lost long journey through the past that isn’t returning anymore, a detachment of rejected fame, recognition and connection which is heavily grounded on a legacy that belongs to the past, and that connects directly to a country (Senegal) and its heritage, which is sometimes feel excruciating for the old ones (a testimony such as the taxi scene in the film, where the cab driver longs for changes, and claims that the old generation had done nothing for that).
Mille Soleils (A Thousand Suns) and, in itself, Mati Diop’s crucial talent, should be a point of reference into what could easily be one of the most interesting proposals of hybrid documentary cinema which has come from France, and which deals with a strong African heritage. Since 35 Rhums, where she proved her actress talent, Diop seems like a true promise for the following years of cinema.
Jake Williams
基努·里维斯,查德·斯塔赫斯基,斯科特·阿金斯,丹尼尔·伯哈特,哈莉·贝瑞,埃里克·布朗,塔兰·巴特勒,陈虎,科曼,杰森·康斯坦丁,马克·达卡斯考斯,乔纳森·埃斯比奥,劳伦斯·菲什伯恩,戴安娜·哈蒙斯,托德·哈里斯,丹尼尔·埃尔南德斯,安杰丽卡·休斯顿,巴兹尔·伊万尼克,德里克·科尔斯塔德,达恩·劳斯特森