Bassirou Diakhate

Arranged to marry a rich man, young Ada is crushed when her true love goes missing at sea during a migration attempt — until a miracle reunites them.

A Senegalese bank-robber born and raised in France is getting over a disastrous heist. As he considers going straight, his cousin calls him from Dakar with an easy opportunity.

Mati, a divorced mother of a young daughter, makes a living selling bric-a-bric from a wheelbarrow and dreams of opening a snack bar. But she falls for the charms of Naago, a cop, and it's only when the Tajaboom festival (at which women and men switch roles) arrives that her opportunity for escape emerges.

Sometimes distasteful practices are most effectively criticized with a good sense of humor. Meet Modou, a young, courageous and determined talibé - a pupil in a Koranic school - who manages to escape from his corrupt and abusive teacher to find a better life in contemporary Dakar, Senegal.