Rokhaya Niang

Chanel’s first fashion show in Dakar in 2023 was historic – not least because of the historically significant venue of the Palace of Justice, a colonial edifice from former "French West Africa". Karine Silla's film about this event focusses on questions of identity, transmission and exchange, and how art and beauty can bring people together.

The film has been ten years in the making, and over time it has grown to become what the director himself has called an artistic testament. It is simultaneously his most personal and most provocative film. A film about growing older, about losing, about the special moments one remembers, and about the director's own circling around the essence of eroticism.

A small craftsman disappears, his brother, a grocer, searches for him and… to his surprise, he finds a misappropriation of Humanitarian Aid! Someone's lining their pockets, but who? And what is the little craftsman doing in there? Investigation, twists and turns, suspenses, prosecutions and murders follow! But, beyond this form, the substance never ceases to be present, namely: why do those who need it most accept to see a large part of the international donations intended for them disappear?