Little Senegal (2001)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Rachid Bouchareb

Writers:

Rachid Bouchareb (writer)
Olivier Lorelle (writer)

Release Date:

18 April 2001 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Green Card | Journey | Widow | Senegalese | Slavery Museum

Awards:

9 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Sotigui Kouyaté	...	Alloune
Sharon Hope	...	Ida
Roschdy Zem	...	Karim
Karim Traoré	...	Hassan (as Karim Koussein Traoré)
Adetoro Makinde	...	Amaralis
Adja Diarra	...	Biram
Malaaika Lacario	...	Eileen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Deen Badarou	...	Mohammed - Cab Driver
Ismail Bashey	...	Foreman
Will Blagrove	...	Karim's friend (as William Blagrove)
Eloi Cloy	...	Curator
Toy Connor	...	Girl
Daryl Edwards	...	Customer
Ron C. Jones	...	Westley
Ahmed Ben Larby	...	Shop Owner
Frank Mayers	...	Syd
David Langston Smyrl	...	Landlord
Ankhasanamen Stone	...	American Woman
Moctar Teyeb	...	Imam
Cheryl L. Williams	...	American Woman

Directed by
Rachid Bouchareb

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Rachid Bouchareb		writer
Olivier Lorelle		writer

Produced by
Allen Bain	....	line producer
Rachid Bouchareb	....	producer
Jean Bréhat	....	producer
Jason Kliot	....	co-producer
Christoph Thoke	....	co-producer
Joana Vicente	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Safy Boutella

Cinematography by
Benoît Chamaillard
Youcef Sahraoui

Film Editing by
Sandrine Deegen

Casting by
Anna Park

Production Design by
Kevin Pierce

Set Decoration by
Dominique Baynes

Costume Design by
Pierre Matard

Makeup Department
Sanna Riley	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Muriel Merlin	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eric McGinty	....	first assistant director
Curtis Smith	....	second assistant director

Art Department
John Newman	....	assistant property master
Duke Scoppa	....	property master
Timothy J. Smith	....	property master: reshoots

Sound Department
Frédérique Delmeiren	....	sound editor
Anne Frey	....	sound editor
Mel Kutbay	....	sound
Philippe Lecoeur	....	sound mixer
Philippe Lecoeur	....	sound
Roque Nuñez	....	boom operator: USA scenes
Hubertus Rath	....	sound re-recording mixer

Stunts
David S. Lomax	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Benoît Chamaillard	....	camera operator
Christine DeSavino	....	still photographer
Glenn Fishel	....	key grip
Peter D. Gelles	....	assistant camera (as Peter Gelles)
Raphaelle Gosse-Gardet	....	gaffer
Youcef Sahraoui	....	camera operator
Chachi Senior	....	assistant camera
Mario Signore	....	second assistant camera
Perry Unjang	....	electrician

Other crew
LeRoy McCarthy	....	assistant location manager
Joice Stewart	....	production accountant
Al Valentine	....	location manager

Production Companies

• 3B Productions
• Canal+
• France 2 Cinéma
• Open City Films
• Tassili Films
• Taunus Film-Produktions GmbH

Distributors

• Tadrart Films (2001) (France) (theatrical)
• Contact Film Cinematheek (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alta Classics S.L. Unipersonal (2002) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Manga Films (2002) (Spain) (DVD)
• Moskwood Media (200?) (Netherlands) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Little Senegal (Spain) [es]
Pikku-Senegal (Finland) (TV title) [fi]

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Algeria | France | Germany

Language:

Wolof | English | French | Arabic

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:M | France:U | Spain:13 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Company:

3B Productions

very honest, modest, counter-Hollywood style and held-back film

Little Senegal has this very sparse style, about a Senegalese man searching for the descendants of his enslaved family, 300 years later. Especially the beginning of the film, with all the old white Southerners is reminiscent of the Golden Age of American cinema, the Seventies ('They shoot horses, don't they?', 'Lolly-Madonna' etc.)

It's so refreshing to watch a film and not hear a constant jitter of back ground music, aiming for music-CD sales. I guess that 75 percent of this film doesn't have ANY music whatsoever. This film respects the viewer, and doesn't waste time with showing scenes that aren't really necessary. In your average Hollywood flic, you would have seen scenes that would be about the main characters not understanding each other, and conflict-scenes. Not so in this one. We jump from scene to scene, while everybody harmonically agrees.

In the middle of the film, Alloune (Sotigui Kouyaté) finds happiness with Ida (Shareon Hope). It's maybe unkind to say, but he looks a lot worse when he's happy and he has a big smile.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks that this film is a gem, NINE WINS? Well done.