Little Senegal

Alloune is an old guide. He works at the museum La Maison des Esclaves on Gorée and tells visitors the history of his people. One day he sets out to look for the descendants of his own ancestors. The journey takes him to the coast of South Carolina. From there he moves on to Little Senegal, a neighbourhood of Harlem. The African community lives there. Following the traces, Alloune reaches a distant cousin named Ida. Ida knows nothing of the past he is carrying. The old man meets others along the way. His nephew Hassan drives a cab without a licence. Around them are Hassan’s fiancée Biram, Eileen, pregnant and run away from home, and Karim, who wants a paper marriage for a green card. All four misread what Alloune is after. He is trying to reunite a family across centuries and borders. The people around him are trying to get through the week. The film sets the two things side by side without judging either. Sotigui Kouyaté and Sharon Hope appear in the ninety seven minute film, an Algerian, French and German co-production Rachid Bouchareb finished in 2001.