 "Over the years, one has learnt to expect very little from the Academy Awards but Atlantics was robbed of a place in the nominations this year")
Who knew disco lasers could be mournful? They are in French-African filmmaker Mati Diop’s Atlantics. A waterside bar is where the young boys and girls of Dakar meet to dance, we are told, but when it makes an appearance in the film there is no dancing. The girls have just learnt the news that most of the town’s boys have secretly set off towards Spain by sea in search of work. Shot by cinematographer Claire Mathon, neon green dots linger on their faces and retreat swiftly, just like the waves outside ebb and flow.
The protagonist is Ada (Mama Sane), young
