Ça Twiste à Popenguine (Twisting in Popenguine)

synopsis

In post-colonial Senegal in the 1960s, teenagers in a small village form two small rival cliques: Les Ins, who prefer French pop singers, and The Kings, who favor American music. The mischievous Baac (Ismael Thiam), an orphan raised collectively by the village, plays the gangs against each other when they fight over girls and a record player. With Western culture being an obvious influence on the lives of the youths, the village contemplates how its customs and habits are changing every day.

about the director

Moussa Sène Absa was born in 1958 in Senegal. After starting a career as an actor, he won awards for his short films, documentaries, and features. He is also a painter and author. He exemplifies the “homo senegalensis”, an ideal of an artist, which was dear to Léopold Sédar Senghor, rooted in tradition but fully willing to use what the Western world has to offer. Ironically, Absa is more famous internationally than he is in his own country despite exposure to a large audience in Senegal through the TV series Goorgoorlu, written by TT Fons and produced by the national Senegalese television (RTS). His first film Le Prix du mensonge (The Price of Lies) earned him the Tanit d’Argent (Silver Tanit) at the Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage (Carthage Film Festival) in 1988. Tableau Ferraille, released in 1996, earned him several awards including Best Cinematography at FESPACO in 1997. His 2002 romantic comedy, Madame Brouette, won the Poitou Charentes Award at the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) in 2003.

His last two feature films, Teranga Blues and Yoole were selected in competition at FESPACO in 2007 and 2013.

(African Film Festival, New York)