“My Father’s Kora” (“La Kora de Mon Père”), a Benin-Switzerland-Germany production, will have its world premiere Aug. 9 at Locarno’s Open Doors section, which has focused on 42 countries of the African continent since 2025.
The film follows Souleymane Everston Adowo Freudenreich, an Afro-German trans man who travels to Dakar, Senegal, to repair his father’s kora. Classified as a harp or lute, repair of the kora serves as a metaphor for Souleymane’s search for identity, belonging and acceptance within a traditional Muslim culture.
“It’s a film about repair, memory, and transmission. The film listens as much as it observes, using a poetic and sensory language to explore identity, silence, faith, and the healing power of music, sewing, and the ocean. It is a quiet reflection on what can be repaired, and what remains uncertain,” says Beninese director Aymar Esse.
“It is not an activist film in the strict sense. It is an invitation to see the other without rushing to define them, to recognize a human being before a category, and to understand that cinema can sometimes open a small breach in the wall of certainties,” he adds.
Produced through Esse’s SunRise Films and co-produced by Aline Bonvin Film Video (Switzerland), Seera Films (Germany) and 274 Studio (Switzerland), the film was developed within the framework of Steps’ Generation Africa program, with the financial support of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Benin. It will have its German premiere at the Afrika Film Festival Köln in September.
