Aya of Yop City
New York African Film Festival 2014
May 7 - 13, 2014
Director Marguerite Abouet and actress Aïssa Maïga in person on May 11.
A popular comic-book series tracking the adventures of a young female aspiring doctor in a 1970s West African working-class suburb is brought to cinematic life through vivid drawings and a spectacular soundtrack.
Director Marguerite Abouet and actress Aïssa Maïga in person on May 11.
Abouet and Oubrerie bring their popular comic-book series that tracks the adventures of a young woman in a working-class town to cinematic life in a beautifully drawn account of West Africa in the 1970s. Nineteen-year-old aspiring doctor Aya spends most of her time at home in the Abidjan suburb of Yopougon (nicknamed Yop City) studying and dealing with her family so she doesn’t have time to take part in the exploits of her gal pals Bintou and Adjoua, both of whom want it all—to marry up as well as start their own business. Things go awry, though, when one of them gets pregnant. Oubrerie’s vivid drawings capture the spirit of a community growing past colonialism along with the rest of the country, and a spectacular soundtrack of period funk, rock, disco, and Afrojazz sets it all in motion. A delight for the eyes and the ears.
Support provided by The Cultural Services of the French Embassy, NY.
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