Director

Moussa Sene Absa

Cast list

Coura Ba as Sylvie Vartan
Jean-François Balmer as M. Benoit
Ousmane Bo as Johnny Hallyday
Abou Camara as El Hadj Gora
Abdoulaye Diop Danny as Jabeel
Mansour Diouf, Marieme Fall as Sheila
Patrice Nassalang as Clo Clo.
Isseu Niang as Dame Castilor
Ismael Thiam as Baac.

Synopsis

Ça Twiste à Poponguine is a bittersweet coming of age film that takes place in 1964, just before Christmas in a seaside village. Local teenagers there are divided into two rival cliques, the “Ins” and the “Kings.” The story of their rivalry is told by a character named Bacc, who is a street smart little boy. The film reveals how young Africans blend American and French pop culture into their daily lives. At the end, there is a fight between the cliques, and the epilogue shares that the “Ins” later drifted apart.

Reviews

Applications of African Cinema in the High School Curriculum: A Secondary Teacher's Views of "Three Tales from Senegal, Ça twiste à Poponguine, Udju Azul di Yonta, Hyenas," and "Keïta"by Maija Racevskis. Research in African Literatures, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Autumn, 1996), pp. 98-109.