Aqua Senegal

An understated but apt opening title card. 

title card

Today the happy news arrived confirming that Orphans 2020 has the privilege to offer viewers a first look at a newly preserved film from Senegal. Director Samba Félix Ndiaye‘s short called simply Aqua (1989) is a quiet, elegant work, structured with a subtle “little reveal” at the end. Shot outside of his home town of Dakar, the 12-minute documentary has no dialogue. When Ndiaye died in 2009, he was considered a major figure in African documentary. 

On Tuesday, May 26, as part of the 6 to 8 pm Orphans Online screening session, Bill Brand (BB Optics) and Amélie Garin-Davet  (Cultural Services of the French Embassy) will introduce a digital preview of the 16mm film their partnership preserved. 

The screening is made possible by the courtesy of Nine Ndiaye.