A story inspired by the life of one of the most remarkable figures in Brazilian popular culture, João Francisco dos Santos (1900-1976). In turn, bandit, transvestite, street fighter, brothel cook, convict and father to seven adopted children, dos Santos – better known as Madame Satã – was also a notorious gay performer who pushed social boundaries in a volatile time.
This documentary shows a few days in the life of various members of Abdijan, Ivory Coast's gay and transgender community. We get to meet a variety of woubis, yossis, etc. The hero/heroine of the film is a statuesque young man named Barbara who is organising the annual year-end party of the Ivory Coast Tranvestite Association, to be held December 27, 1997.
Set to the soundtrack of Papa Wemba's extraordinary music, this outrageous, funny and eye-opening film depicts the underground world of a flamboyant African cult. Papa Wemba is a well-known Congolese singer. He is also a big cheese in Le Sape, the Société des Ambianceurs et Persons Élégants, which translated into English means a society of people who spend huge amounts of money on designer clothes with the motive of making themselves as conspicuously elegant as possible. The film is a splendid evocation of Papa Wemba's music, but it is also an unusual insight into what it means to be an immigrant in contemporary Europe. The sapeur have borrowed from our own culture, creating something rich and strange and wholly Congolese. Don't miss the scene where they try on fur coats.
