Dakan (Destiny) (1997)

1997. 87 minutes. Guinea. Director: Mohamed Camara. Feature Film

In French and Mandikan with English subtitles. Dakan will inevitably be remembered as among the first feature films on homosexuality from sub-Saharan Africa.

While "coming out" may have become prime-time fare in the U.S., this film was met with angry protests when it was shot in the director's native Guinea and has generated heated debate among Africanists. But beyond its controversial topic, Dakan is a contemporary African reinterpretation of the age-old Romeo and Juliet conflict between love and social convention. Director Mohamed Camara has written, "I made this film to pay tribute to those who express their love in whatever way they feel it, despite society's efforts to repress it."