AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL NEW ZEALAND

Synopsis

Awards/Screening: Premiered at FESPACO2023 and NY African Film Festival

Tooth for Tooth is a film about a civil servant (Augustine) who immigrates to Senegal from Burkina Faso to seek better opportunities in Senegal. Life turns upside down for Augustine after he loses his job as a civil servant because of budget cuts and severe austerity policies ordered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF.) He finds himself at the bottom of society and his pride humiliated as he ends up working a menial office job while remaining dependent on his doctor wife (Vivianne). This is a fascinating story that exposes the negative impact multilateral organisations have on poorer nations and society. The film brilliantly covers gender issues, masculinity, youth voice, poverty, and romance, all in the backdrop of a political upheaval. Augustine’s daughter (Aminata) and her fiancé’s (Moussa) relationship is tested when Moussa seeks to migrate to Europe to flee the hopelessness back home. The orphan boy “Lamine” is a mischievous hero in the film that proves very resourceful to Augustine by rescuing him from the underbelly world of a bully named Ibou, through a shrewdly crafted plot, and introduces him to the local traditional healer (Marabout) to cure his impotence. Augustine finally gets his revenge on the IMF boss who he attributes to his difficulties by asking the Marabout to place a curse on him. The IMF boss loses his job following an indecent assault in New York. Tooth for Tooth is a witty and funny beautiful family drama that will leave the audience deeply captivated.