Yao

Yao (2019) is a road film set in Senegal, and not an ordinary role for Omar Sy. Thirteen year old Yao lives in a village in northern Senegal. Seydou Tall, the French actor he idolises, comes to Dakar to promote his book. Yao sets off alone and travels three hundred and eighty seven kilometres. The actor is moved by him, cancels his schedule, and decides to drive him home. The rest is their journey. The real subject is not the boy but the man. Seydou is of Senegalese descent but has never been to the country, does not speak the language, and does not know his own village. Over the journey, who is guiding whom reverses. This is not accidental. Omar Sy is one of the producers and his father is Senegalese. The unfamiliarity Seydou feels touches the actor's own situation directly. Fatoumata Diawara appears in the film; she is a well known Malian musician. The narrative is sometimes too neat and the sentiment runs high. Against that, the Senegalese landscape is not a postcard but a place people actually live. It runs 103 minutes. Good for: road movies, drama set in Africa, and family viewing. Less good for: the plot is predictable, the pace is slow, and the ending is too tidy.