With: Ibrahima Traoré, Mame Bineta Sane, Amadou Mbow, Nicole Sougou, Aminata Kane, Mariama Gassama, Coumba Dieng, Ibrahima Mbaye, Diankou Sembene
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Written by: Mati Diop, Olivier Demangel
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Directed by: Mati Diop
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MPAA Rating: NR
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Language: Wolof, French, English, Arabic, with English subtitles
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Running Time: 106
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Date: 11/29/2019
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Spirit Away
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
This beautiful movie from Senegal is an old-fashioned romantic tragedy that could have been written for a silent-era film, a social commentary, and a supernatural ghost story, all at the same time. Souleiman (Ibrahima Traoré) and several like-minded colleagues decide to take a boat to Spain to look for better work opportunities. He leaves behind his true love, Ada (Mame Bineta Sane), who is set to be married to the wealthy Omar (Babacar Sylla). On their wedding day, their bed catches fire, and a detective, Issa (Amadou Mbow), is assigned to investigate the case as potential arson. Meanwhile, at nightfall every night, several people seem to be possessed by spirits, their eyes turning into white orbs. Directed by Mati Diop — who became the first Black woman with a film in competition at the Cannes Film Festival — Atlantics is quiet and poetic, seeing its images with an ethereal gaze, and moving through its familiar story threads with a fresh kind of mystery.
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