AiM: Sex, Okra and Salted Butter

Opening the 2010 Africa in Motion (AiM) festival, Chadian Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s light-hearted satire, Sex, Okra and Salted Butter, embraces the difficult balance of cultural reconciliation, sexual adventure and family responsibility with a pinch of salt.

Having moved to France from the Ivory Coast, Malik (Marius Yelolo) has never felt the necessity to fully adapt to his new home. Outside the African aesthetic of his apartment however, Malik’s phlegmatic nature is threatened by the unravelling of the traditions he has followed so rigorously.

Whilst his friends have been busy ‘integrating’, Malik’s partner Hortense (Mata Gabin) has decided to abandon her wifely duties and run away with her oyster-farmer lover, Jean-Paul (Manuel Blanc). The discovery that eldest son Dani (Dioucounda Koma) is gay causes further estrangement for Malik, and the series of revelations begin to take their toll as he drunkenly neglects his parental duties to his two younger sons, relying on the help of flirtatious neighbour Madame Myriam (Lorella Cravotta). 

When the arrival of Hortense’s sister Tatie Afoué (Marie-Philomène Nga) reveals that Malik’s old-fashioned ideas may not even have a place back in Abidjan, he has no option but to try and accept the ways of others, even if they don’t make okra stew the way he likes it.

Despite the discord and division in Sex, Okra and Salted Butter, there is a strong sense of family in the film that transcends the bonds of blood. The result is a delightful recipe of humour and thought provoking observation, and a perfect opener to AiM’s celebration of African cinema. [Matthew Stanger]