WRESTLING GROUND 2006, Senegal, 105 min., 35MM
Directed by Cheikh Ndiaye
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
Black World Cinema presents films by filmmakers that bring us story with compelling content and human dimension seldom presented in mainstream cinema.
All screenings are followed by lively discussions moderated by program director Floyd Webb or local filmwriters and directors
Cheikh NDIAYE was born in Dakar, Sénégal. He studied editing and directing at the Conservatoire libre du Cinéma Français (CLCF) in Paris. "WRESTLING GROUNDS" is his first feature movie.
This movie has been selected at the Los Angeles Film Festival , at the Salt Lake City Festival and at the Syracuse Festival (USA) in 2007.
It was also selected for the International Festival of Cinema and Costumes in Paris (Festival International de Cinema et Costumes)
FILMOGRAPHIE
1994 TOUMOURANKE (documentary)
1996 MOUSSO (short movie)
1999 DIPRI LA PUISSANCE DU SEKE (documentary)
2002 MYAE (l'être)- (documentary)
2006 WRESTLING GROUNDS (feature film)