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Autochenille Production
présents
T 
he 
M 
ovie 
Directed by
Marguerite Abouet et Clément Oubrerie
© Gallimard Jeunesse
 
« Africa is about beautiful and witty girls who dance the night away at local bars and who caterto midnight kisses at the Thousand Star Hotel while others stay homeand concentrate on higheraspirations to become doctors.Africa is about fathers named Ignace or Hyacinte and motherswho practice healing in their sparetime. In Yopougon, in Ivory Coast,in Africa, just as (or more than?)anywhere else… people argue,forgive, forget, laugh, cry, dance,solve problems and serve Nescafé to the sexy genitos.Thank you Marguerite Abouet forsharing your childhood memories with us dêh, right downto the expressions…! And thank you Clément Oubrerie for drawingwith such grace the young girls’necks, the sea and the children’sfaces. »
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Aya, Adjoua et Bintou
stove, the sun-drenched asphalt,the humming of Moussa’s orangeToyota Corolla… this is the lai-dback atmosphere in “Aya de Yopougon.”Temperatures will rise and we’llshare a cul-de-dindon  or a glassof Tip-Top soda  with Bintou atthe Allocodrome. We’ll listen toFrançois Lougah, Ernesto Djédjéand the Zairian rumbas. If the ni-ght gets too hot and our appetiteindulged, we’ll have to rely on ourmothers to restore order.This angle won’t stop us from
“A
ya
de Yopougon” sprung from the desire to relate the story of a happy childhood in the suburbsof Abidjan, as well as to tell the story of a country. A story whichstrives to offer the vision of anAfrica that is rarely seen todayamid media that shows us toomuch of how Africans die, and notenough of how Africans live. Incontrast, animated motion pictu-res and youth literature depict anAfrica of legend and folklore, lightyears away from the reality of mo-dern Africa.This is the story of an Africa that’sdifferent from the one we usuallyread about. Set in the suburbs of Abidjan, 19-year old Aya tells usthe story of her middle-class life, of her personal aspirations and of thefrustration she feels with her lessambitious boy-crazy girlfriendsAdjoua and Bintou. “Aya” tells thestory of a family, not of a nation;its setting – the carefree IvorianDolce Vita era of the 1970s.Young girls as indifferent in theirpace as they are hurried in theirconversations. Mothers glued totheir television screens while let-ting their peanut sauce burn on the
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