Cannes: African cinema in spotlight as Senegalese, Tunisian films in Palm d'Or running

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00:00 Now, staying with the idea of bridging between the continents cooperation,

00:02 Africa has put on a particularly strong showing at this year's 76th Cannes Film Festival here in France.

00:09 South African film The Voice Behind the Wall has already won the prize for best African film,

00:15 but two films from the continent are also vying for the absolute top prize of the coveted Palme d'Or.

00:22 Emma Jones tells us more from the cinematic sands of Cannes.

00:27 It feels like this is really the year when African filmmaking is finally coming into prominence at the Cannes Film Festival.

00:35 There's a first-time feature film in competition here in Cannes by French Senegalese director,

00:41 Ramata Toulier-Sy. The film is called Bonnelle et Adama, and it's the story of two lovers

00:47 living in a remote Senegalese village who just want to be together,

00:51 but it's going against the traditions of their village by doing so.

00:55 Also in competition, another filmmaker, Kouta Benhania, who hails from Tunisia.

01:01 Now, she's already been Oscar nominated for her last film, The Man Who Sold His Skin,

01:06 and she's here this year with a film called Four Daughters, which sounds quite provocative.

01:11 It's about a Tunisian mother with four daughters.

01:14 One day, two of them mysteriously disappear, and Kouta brings professional actresses to replace them.

01:20 So everybody's really looking forward to seeing what those two movies bring.

01:25 Also in the uncertain regard section, which is the sidebar of the official selection at Cannes,

01:31 there are two more African films. One is a film from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

01:36 It's called Omen by Baloji, and it's the story of a man who's been in Europe for 15 years.

01:42 He comes back home, and he brings with him his white fiancé.

01:47 And then there's a debut feature film from Sudan as well,

01:50 which is a country tragically in the news right now.

01:54 But this film is called Goodbye, Julia by Mohamed Kordofani,

01:59 and it's the story of a meeting between two women, one from North and one from South Sudan,

02:05 and the complexities of their relationships, he says,

02:08 attempts to address some of the differences between these two parts of the world.

02:13 So really, for the first time, African filmmaking is really getting a major world platform

02:19 here at the world's biggest film festival.

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