Kaddu Beykat

Shot in three weeks with a small team, this docufiction is the remarkable product of Senegalese director Safi Faye’s participatory collaboration with her family and residents of the village of Fad’jal – among them her grandfather, who died shortly after filming wrapped. KADDU BEYKAT tells the story of Ngor, a young agricultural worker who can’t afford a wedding dowry and instead attempts to get by in Dakar. Through an expansive and patient lens, Faye also chronicles the everyday social rituals and cultural practices in a work that was banned for its open critique of the Senegalese government’s neocolonial agricultural policies. She opens the film by addressing the viewers in voiceover: “This is my village. My parents are farmers and breed livestock. You are going to spend a moment with us at home.” Faye’s stunning pioneering feature is also an invitation and act of hospitality. (BAM, New York)

KADDU BEYKAT screened at the Berlinale Forum in 1976 and 2024. In 2025, the Arsenal Filminstitut submitted the film to the Locarno Heritage Restoration Contest. KADDU BEYKAT was selected as the winning film by the jury and digitally restored by Cinegrell. The premiere of the restored version took place on August 8 at the 79th Locarno Film Festival.

Markus Ruff studied at the University of the Arts in Berlin Visual Communication and Art and Media and at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires. He is section head of archival projects at Arsenal Filminstitut, and is responsible for the collection management as well as digitization and restoration projects. Furthermore, he engages in training in the field of film archiving and preservation.