Tall as the Baobab Tree, a feature film shot in Senegal, makes its US premiere at the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival that runs from 25 April to 9 May 2013.
Said to be inspired by true events, Grand comme le Baobab (Tall as the Baobab Tree) tells the tale of Coumba, a teenage girl, who devises a plan to rescue Debo, her 11-year-old sister, from an arranged marriage.
Directed by 23-year-old Jeremy Teicher, first-time feature filmmaker, the movie is a scripted follow-up to his Student Oscar-nominated documentary, This is Us.
“The movie poignantly depicts a family struggling to find its footing at the outer edge of the modern world… where questions of right and wrong are not always black and white,’ says Teicher.
The village in Senegal where the film was shot on location is called Sinthiou Mbadane and the movie features local villagers playing roles that mirror their actual lives.
According to Teicher, this is the first feature film shot in the colloquial Pulaar language
