Little Senegal

In the black civil rights movement and gays' political battle, the artistic means of comedy and stylised overdrawing were developed into hard-hitting weapons. The Blitz Cinema section of the programme presents outstanding film works by contemporary witnesses and protagonists of the scene that deal with the cultural identity of African-Americans, subcultural movements like rap and Afro-punk, biographies of transsexuals in pop culture, and the "golden age" of gay New York before the advent of AIDS.

Little Senegal

D: Rachid Bouchareb, France 2001, 97 min, German subtitles

After 30 years of work at the Museum of the History of Slavery on the island of Gorée, the Senegalese Alloun sets out to find his American relatives, whose ancestors were taken to America as slaves. His search leads him to New York… Sotigui Kouyaté from Mali, one of the highest-profile actors on the African continent, shines in the leading role. The film was shown in competition at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival.