Dakan

Dakan (Destiny) is a 1997 French/Guinean drama film written and directed by Mohamed Camara. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Telling the story of two young men struggling with their love for each other, it has been described as the first West African feature film to deal with homosexuality.

For the village in Iran, see Dakan, Iran.
Dakan
Movie poster
Directed byMohamed Camara
Produced byRené Féret
Written byMohamed Camara
StarringCécile Bois
Mamady Mory Camara
Koumba Diakite
Aboucar Touré
Music byKouyate Sory 'Douga' Kandia
CinematographyGilberto Azevedo
Edited byDos Santos
Release date
  • May 1997 (1997-05) (Cannes)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryGuinea
France
LanguageFrench
Mandinkan

Plot

Manga and Sory are two young men in love with each other. Manga tells his widowed mother of the relationship, and Sory tells his father. Both parents forbid their sons to see each other again. Sory marries and has a child. Manga's mother turns to witchcraft to cure her son, and he unsuccessfully undergoes a lengthy form of aversion therapy. He meets and becomes engaged to a white woman called Oumou. Both men try to make their heterosexual relationships work but are ultimately drawn back to each other. Manga's mother eventually gives her blessing to the pair and the end of the film sees Sory and Manga driving off together towards an uncertain future.[1][2][3][4][5]

Cast

Background and production

Dakan has been variously described as the first West African film, the first Sub-Saharan film and the first film by a Black African to deal with homosexuality.[2][6][7][8] It depicts the conflict between homosexual characters and their families in a society where homosexuality is taboo.[8] According to Monica Bungaro in "Male Feminist Fiction", the film suggests that homosexuality is in fact natural and widespread.[3] Sory appears to be attractive to several other young men, and the relationship between Sory and Manga is accepted by their classmates.[3][9]

"I made this film to pay tribute to those who express their love in whatever way they feel it, despite society's efforts to repress it."

—Mohamed Camara[2]

Camara started making Dakan with funding from the governments of France and Guinea. When the Guinean government discovered that the subject-matter was homosexuality, it withdrew funding.[1] Camara used his own money to fund the project and received some financial support from French television network La Sept.[1] Filming faced disruption from angry protesters.[1][2] The cast consisted of local Guinean actors, and one French actress.[9] Camara originally planned to play the part of Manga himself, but ended up playing Sori's father.[5] The soundtrack features the music of Guinean musician Sory Kandia Kouyate.[9]

Distribution

Dakan premièred at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival during Directors' Fortnight.[10] It played at several other film festivals including the 1998 New York Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival and the 1999 Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.[8][10] It opened in French theatres on July 7, 1999. It was released onto Region 2 DVD by Éclair on September 22, 2005.[11] In 2006 Dakan was shown at the Museum of Modern Art's "Another Wave: Global Queer Cinema" exhibition in New York City.[12]

Reception

In 1998, Dakan won the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Foreign Narrative Feature at L.A. Outfest.[13] Writing for Variety, David Stratton called it "a trailblazer in the African context" and praised the use of traditional music.[10] He said that Western audiences might find the story "slight".[10] In The New York Times, Anita Gates said that the film lacks subtlety but that within its context, it is significant.[14]

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See also
  • African cinema
  • List of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-related films

References
Footnotes
  1. Brennan, Sandra, "Destiny > Overview", Allmovie, Rovi Corporation, retrieved 11 March 2008
  2. "Dakan (Destiny)", California Newsreel, retrieved 3 February 2011
  3. Bungaro, p. 152
  4. Hawley, p. 69
  5. Armes, pp. 152–53
  6. "Ten Straight Days of Gay Films", Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (official site), archived from the original on 1 August 2007, retrieved 8 November 2007
  7. Hudgens & Trillo, p. 542
  8. Spaas, p. 225
  9. Dukule, Abdoulaye; Camara, Mohamed (April 2001), "Film Review: Dakan by Mohamed Camara", African Studies Review, African Studies Association, 44 (1): 119–121, doi:10.2307/525399, JSTOR 525399
  10. Stratton, David (31 March 1997), "Destiny", Variety, Reed Business Information, retrieved 3 February 2011
  11. "Destiny (1997) (Dakan)", Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Inc, retrieved 3 February 2011
  12. "Another Wave: Global Queer Cinema, Part One", Museum of Modern Art official site, 2006, retrieved 3 February 2011
  13. "Outfest 1998 Film Competition Winners", Outfest official site, archived from the original on 8 November 2005, retrieved 3 February 2011
  14. Gates, Anita (7 July 2006), "Another Wave: Global Queer Cinema", The New York Times, The New York Times Company, retrieved 3 February 2011
Bibliography
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