Combining sporting prowess and fabulous music, the promising "Wrestling Ground" (L'APPEL DES ARENES) dramatically demonstrates the cultural importance of wrestling in Senegal.

WRESTLING GROUND 2006, Senegal, 105 min., 35MM
Directed by Cheikh Ndiaye SEE TRAILER!
Thursday, Sept 3, 7pm, General Admission $5.00
210 West 87th Street, Chicago, IL 60620

Combining sporting prowess and fabulous music, the promising “Wrestling Ground” (L’APPEL DES ARENES) dramatically demonstrates the cultural importance of wrestling in Senegal.
The atmosphere is highly charged from the get-go as 19-year-old Nalla (Abdoul Aziz Ndiaye) is chased by several muggers in the daylit streets of his well-to-do Dakar suburb. Wrestling champ Andre (Moustapha Gueye), fixing his truck near the crime scene, intervenes in the melee and intimidates the thieves into returning Nalla’s property.

While driving Nalla to town, Andre explains the importance of wrestling and encourages the youth to join his group. The sport quickly becomes a vocation for Nalla, much to the consternation of his mother, a domineering and sophisticated upper-class woman who disdains violence in all its forms.

The film’s second half is both enchanting and edifying with its representations and explanations of the importance of spirituality, music and tradition in Senegalese wrestling.

Russell Edwards, VARIETY