Youssouf Djaoro

In this sumptuous masterwork from Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, the outskirts of N’Djamena shimmer with a vivacity that belies brutal prejudices. A powerful ode to the resilience of Chadian women in the face of patriarchal cruelty, this quietly radical drama has all the healing warmth of a mother’s embrace.

A handicapped dancer and a troubled prostitute run for their lives when the man’s oil smuggling to help his ill stepfather begins to close in on them.