Virginia Film Festival

Following a pickpocketing charge, authorities send a young man to the Maca correctional facility in the Ivorian capital of Abidjan. The prison, entirely run by inmates, is ruled heavily by superstition. On the night of the rising red moon, prison leader Lord Black Beard chooses the new inmate to assume the position of “Roman,” meaning he must keep his fellow inmates entertained with wild tales or risk death. With the threat of his own life imminent, he tells the story of his childhood friend Zama that became an infamous crime boss. Director Philippe Lacôte pays homage to the griot tradition in West African culture, all while providing a gripping, risk-taking narrative.