Il viaggio di Yao

A dramatic French adventure film. It's about an African boy who likes to read and meet the author of one of his favorite books. Talk about cultural exchange, about ourselves and finding ourselves. The interesting thing about the film is seeing how reading moves us and how fascinating it would be if all children had this habit, whatever their socioeconomic level. With emotional and other sarcastic moments. A film that gathers the best of cultures and traditions. Quality. Safety pin

We can easily get so caught up in our own business and goals that we forget to simply look around and testify that there is more life happening around us than our small world. So, it takes something or someone to get in our way and get our attention by interrupting our trajectory.. That can be bothering. It can be as challenging as being confronted with opposite cultures and mindsets that drive us off our comfort zone and make us go back to what really matters, stripped off of all that is accessory. Life can be simpler and more joyful. This is Yao: playfully serious.

Not many people know Sub-Saharan Western Africa, its way of living and thinking. They live in poverty, families with few resources to be able to eat the bare minimum daily, even so, they have what is called resilience. Adapted to the evils left by centuries of colonial domination, to which the corruption and inefficiency of many of their authorities are added. The families somehow achieve a balance of life, which leaves them time to enjoy some little things.

Watching this film was like remembering previously seen realities by me. The film is presented as a fable with its well-added ingredients from the customs of the ethnic groups that make up Senegal. All is about a trip of famous actor of Senegalese origin to the land of his ancestors, and a child from a village in northern part of the country, who due to his sympathies to the actor decides to travel with no means to the capital with the sole objective of meeting the artist. From the meeting, unexpected or unknown events begin to occur for the actor, a man who was actually unaware of the culture of his ancestors.

The film reflects the hospitality of its people, the free way of living, not very given to worrying much about time, also the evil that is generated in some to deceptively obtain what they do not have, the behavior of the police, local beliefs, their rhythms. A film made with many truthful bits of the everyday.

Yao is a cultural entertainment, which takes the viewer into a country, where several ethnic groups live and about seven local languages are spoken, in addition to French, the official language.

I caught this gem on Belgian TV. It's a beautiful movie about a famous and wealthy actor of Senegalese descent who gets to meet his father's homeland trough the eye of a local kid who's a fan. As he takes a trip towards the kid's village he gets to meet a diversity of people, with different languages, religions, and cultures. There are a lot of heart-warming moments and I'm glad to say nothing bad happens, which is a nice detour from the "Africa as the land of war and corruption" trope.

The acting is great. Omar Sy has an amazing presence, as always and Lionel Louis Basse holds his own. Fatoumata Diawara is great as the travelling performer who introduces us to the local culture and establishes the "otherness" of the main character.

I loved watching this not only because of the good acting and story but also because it was a way to get to know more about an African country. I also found out about Fatoumata, who is a great singer, and have become a fan.

Lovely movie ! The storyline is interesting, amazing acting and amazing location.

Omar Sy is very great like always. I cried and laughed, this movie warm a heart.