Night of the Kings

Writer/director Philippe Lacôte takes the ironbound staples of prison dramas - the draconian regime, the new inmate, the king of the hill - and gives them a hefty injection of vibrant fantasy, with spectacular results. A new prisoner (Bakary Koné) arrives at the Ivory Coast's brutal La Maca prison, where top dog Blackbeard (Steve Tientcheu) immediately appoints him the new storyteller, tasked with keeping the inmates entertained for a whole night or he dies. The yarns become ever more fantastical as our terrified hero embarks on a night of Scheherazade-style storytelling, weaving strands of ghetto realism with African history and magic. His audience (many of them actual ex-inmates of La Maca) respond with dramatic outbursts of singing and interpretive dance, while the ailing Blackbeard stares down his own impending demise. It's an exhilarating mix of the gritty and the otherworldly, making for a film that's both powerful and vastly entertaining.