Festival of Slaps

A fancy restaurant. A lady punishing, at first sight, in violent maner, her adult son. The reactions of the others.

The film explains this gesture , offering episodes from past years. A mother , his son, her vigilence against mistakes of age and , after decades, her example becomes the fair solution in other crisis Beautiful acting, lovely story and familiar correctness , not only for a Nigerian but for an European Eastern , like me, in same measure.

Short, just delightful, not being exactly reflection of cultural stereotypes but honest - precis portrait of life style. And, I admitt, Kefi Lokimakin is just great in the role of mother.

I can't help but wonder if auteur Abdou Cisse had maybe just a little skin in the game as "Ade" receives a clout from his mum (Kemi Lofinmakin). This particular clip round the ear causes the character to reminisce about the role of the "slap" in his life - from childhood punishment to frustrated chastisement to a potentially life saving function on his own child! It's quite a quirky short narrative that demonstrates that regardless of colour or creed this brand of light reprimand can emanate from a myriad of emotions too - like love, or frustration, exasperation or, of course, just being cross with - in this case - a rather unthinking and petulant teenager. A clever idea with which we can all relate, and it packs quite a bit in for 12 minutes. We even learn that 1970 was a good year for Sauvignon Blanc!