Marjolijn Prins

Fantastique

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Director Marjolijn Prins Music (original) Johana Beaussart Cast Makhissa Camara, Nana Gassama, Fanta Turpin

Docs New Voices Belgian Cinema Today Explore Zone

4.7/5

Edition 2025

Official Selection

71' - 2025 - Family, Documentary, Youth / Coming-Of-Age - Format: DCP - Dialogue: Susu, French

Director Marjolijn Prins follows 14-year-old Fanta in Guinea-Conakry as she balances school, caring for her sick mother, and her dream of becoming an acrobat in the Amoukanama Circus, navigating gender roles. This coming-of-age documentary blends magical realism with stunning night photography, capturing Fanta’s quest for identity and freedom in poetic shades of blue.

Director Marjolijn Prins takes us to Guinea-Conakry, where fourteen-year-old Fanta (Fanta Turpin) divides her days between school, caring for her ailing mother (Nana Gassama), and her burning dream: to shine as an acrobat in the Amoukanama circus (featuring Balla Moussa Bangoura, among others). As one of the few girls in the troupe, she searches for balance in a world where expectations, traditions, and gender roles confine her freedom. Prins seamlessly weaves together documentary and magical realism: night photography in magnetic shades of blue and an animated natural world reflect Fanta’s body and discipline. Intimate friendships and music that pulses like a heartbeat through her days shape her inner search for a voice of her own. The result is a poetic coming-of-age film about becoming a woman, balancing care and ambition, and the power of devotion and daring to dream big.