In Dakar, a disturbing friendship between the filmmaker Khady Sylla and Aminta, two women who are caught in depression or madness. A moving mirror portrait that attempts to express an inescapable desperation.

“I live on the campus of the Gaston Berger University at Saint Louis, Senegal. I have met there Africans from different parts of the continent. Of all these friends, one of them, a Senegalese, has stuck in my mind. He was the first to speak to me of my difference, the fact that I come from Central Africa. He let me become acquainted with his society, its taboos. Today I do not know where he is. I just know that one day he left on a pirogue headed for Europe. From his absence came the desire to make a film on our meeting, our differences, the places we crossed, the friends we knew.”

Most of the walls of houses in Saint Louis, Senegal, are covered with paintings depicting the master of the Mourid Brotherhood, Amadou Bamba. These frescoes are also to be found on ships' flags, on barouches, and in bedrooms. Most of them bear the signature of Thiam B.B. This film introduces us to Mourid ideas through these paintings and a meeting with Thiam, a mystical, vagabond painter.

By expressing themselves on subjects such as the veil, the sharia and fundamentalism, Senegalese Muslim women give us an insight into how they live their religion. This film also explores their place in African society and their freedom of speech.

Baye Fall is a Muslim practice derived from mouridism, a Sufi based faith deeply rooted within Senegalese culture. Through the story of one family, the film explores the beliefs and lifestyle of Baye Fall followers.

Gum tattoos are common in West Africa. In the past, so as not to dishonour their families, women showed no suffering during the ceremony that marked their passage into adulthood. Today, this rite of seduction is still carried out but without the dances and songs of the past. Some women even give a few moans of pain.

Maam Kumba Bang is the spirit of the waters of the island of Saint Louis. Its mysterious and mythical presence governs the city and river and the collective imagination has built up a vivid picture around it. But only a few people can say that they have met this divinity. The film, through some accounts, re-evokes this ancient legend which continues to live.