Like the programme's creator, Ramata Toulaye Sy, Mati Diop, who was awarded the Earring Bear at this year's Berlinale, represents a young generation of African filmmakers and, although based in Paris, she constantly turns to her native Senegal in her filmmaking. In her debut film, Atlante, she tells a ghostly love story combining fantasy and social issues. A futuristic tower is about to open on the Atlantic coast above a suburb of Dakar. Seventeen-year-old Ada is in love with Suleiman, a construction worker, but she is already engaged to another man. One night, Suleiman goes to sea with his colleagues, hoping for a better future. A few days later, Ada's wedding is ruined by a fire and a mysterious fever. Ada does not yet know that Suleiman is back. The film is in Wolof and French with Lithuanian and English subtitles. In Wolof and French languages with Lithuanian and English subtitles. TO SENEGAL is a programme of four films co-curated with director Ramata-Toulaye Sy, including Sy's directorial debut. In Banel and Adama, Touki Bouki and Atlante, the protagonists yearn to change the status quo by seeking freedom from the circumstances that constrain them. They are held back by the ocean, invisible forces or the demands of tradition. These are stories about young people and their hopes. And Mati Diop's A Thousand Suns reflects on life and the state of being when those hopes and expectations fade with the passage of time or are confronted with insurmountable challenges. By combining realistic and magical imagery, the films open up different sides of Senegal and allow us to feel the deep experiences of its inhabitants.