The 2013 African Film Festival kicks off at Washington University on Friday night with a screening of La Pirogue, the new feature from Senegalese fillmmaker Moussa Touré. Adapted from Abasse Ndione’s French-language novel, Mbëkë mi, Toure’s film offers an engaging twist on the often humdrum animal that is the socially conscious narrative feature. Through a fictional prism, La Pirogue depicts the tribulations of West Africans who brave the Atlantic on modified traditional fishing boats (the titular pirogue) in search of opportunities on European shores. Rather than present a naturalistic portrait of such a journey, Toure and screenwriters Éric Névé and David Bouchet employ the conventions of man-versus-the-elements action thrillers, nimbly blending them with character-centered melodrama into a satisfying package.
The viewer’s entry point into the tale is Baye Laye (Souleymane Seye Ndiaye), a veteran fisherman and guarded family man who reluctantly accepts the position of captain on a Spain-bound pirogue. Driven less by ambition than a sense of responsibility for his protégé, Kaba (Babacar Oualy), and his shiftless brother, Abou (Malaminé Dramé), Baye Laye is soon skimming across the perilous open sea with 27 additional passengers from Senegal, Guinea, and points beyond. La Pirogue borrows liberally from cinematic history—WWII submarine and prison break pictures are prominent reference points—but its swift pacing and the hard-bitten specificity of its setting prevent the film from succumbing to cliché. Moreover, the screenplay is dotted with shrewd allusions to contemporary economic, fiscal, and environmental crises, lending a modest streak of global-mindedness to what is in essence a ripping good survival yarn.
La Pirogue screens on Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m. in Room 100 of Washington University’s Brown Hall. It will be preceded by Moroccan director Lamia Alami’s short film, Farewell Exile. Admission is free. The African Film Festival runs through March 24. For a full festival schedule, go to wupa.wustl.edu/africanfilm.
