X
- 2001
- Unrated
- New Yorker Films
- 1 h 30 m
- 2001
- Unrated
- New Yorker Films
- 1 h 30 m
Summary Set in the late 17th century on the Western coast of Africa, Adanggaman is a provocative retelling of the African slave experience, based on historical facts. (Film Forum)
- 2001
- Unrated
- New Yorker Films
- 1 h 30 m
- 2001
- Unrated
- New Yorker Films
- 1 h 30 m
Adanggaman
70
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Summary Set in the late 17th century on the Western coast of Africa, Adanggaman is a provocative retelling of the African slave experience, based on historical facts. (Film Forum)
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
70
88% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
70
88% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The film's disturbing images are presented matter-of-factly, which makes them more powerful, not less.
The narrative motion is tricky; first it canters, then shifts into a heady, quick gallop. What's most fascinating about Adanggaman are the scenes that feel like anecdotal rest stops but that are actually building into a nuanced and engrossing whole.
This one uses sweeping compositions of nearly solitary figures as a reminder of what individuals stood to lose, and an auction scene is horrifying -- some livestock and a basket of everyday items are exchanged for a man's future.
Beautifully filmed, but extremely painful examination of the African slave trade takes a difficult position: Rather than focusing on the white European superstructure, Ivory Coast director Roger Gnoan M'bala focuses on African complicity in the capture and selling of African people.
Well-acted and nicely photographed, and has good action sequences, even if the screenplay (by M'Bala, Jean-Marie Adiaffi and Bertin Akaffou) is simplistic and there are slow stretches.
The film doesn't always take advantage of its dramatic potential (except for its strong soundtrack), as it relies too heavily on scenes of crazed warriors in makeup and costume, running and screaming and jumping up and down.
Dramatically naive at times, but still represents a refreshingly ambitious, imaginative film in a period of creative underachievement for African cinema.
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Production Company
Abyssa Film,
Amka Films Productions,
Canal+ Horizons,
Direction de la Cinematographie Nationale,
Fabrica,
Fondation Stanley Thomas Johnson,
Fondazione Monte Cinema Verità,
Fonds D'aide a La Création Cinématographique,
IMTM Films,
L'Agence de la Francophonie (ACCT),
Ministère de la Culture,
Ministère des Affaires Étrangères,
RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana,
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Ivoirienne (R.T.I.),
Rai Cinema,
Renardes Productions,
Repubblica e Cantone del Ticino,
Televisione Svizzera Italiana (TSI)
Release Date Jul 11, 2001
Duration 1 h 30 m
Rating Unrated
Genres
Awards
Ouagadougou Panafrican Film and Television Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Amiens International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Marrakech International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
