Farewell Amor

"Farewell Amor" is director Ekwa Msangi's feature film debut but you would never guess it as this remarkable film feels like the work of someone who has been making films for years. The plot revolves around an Angolian woman who comes to America with her teenage daughter to be reunited with her husband after an absence of 17 years only to discover they are virtually strangers and it's told from the point of view of all three of them. However, this is no grim problem picture but a surprisingly upbeat account of lives coming together and how something as simple as dance, for example, can engage people on the most basic of levels.

The three central performances are outstanding as Msangi glides her cast seamlessly through the twists and turns of her characters' lives while getting in some nifty dance moves in the process. The fact that the wife and mother, (a splendid Zainab Jah), is deeply religious while her husband, (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, equally good), has lost his religion, if he ever had any, doesn't help matters just as her fidelity and his infidelity over the years proves a major hurdle they must overcome. But, as I said, grimness is put on the back-burner and this lovely character study is all the better for it.