“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
– Sir Isaac Newton
With all of the discussion of borders — who’s securing them, who’s refusing to do so, what do we do with the people who come into our country, any country — it’s easy to forget that the people coming are doing so for a reason. Fear tells us that they’re coming to replace us, to make our country theirs. In reality, the reason people move to another country, an action that takes incredible resources, sacrifices, and courage, is because they want something different they the experiences and opportunities they have where they are. It’s not what is they want, but what could be. It’s here that writer/director Omar Kamara begins his dramedy about two second-generation immigrant brothers, African Giants, which held its world premiere during the Slamdance Film Festival 2024. There’s hope and love, disappointment and frustration, which cuts only in the way that family can, which is, itself, a universal condition.
L-R: Dillon Daniel Mutyaba as Alhaji and Omete Anassi as Sheku in AFRICAN GIANTS. Photo courtesy of Prodigy PR.
Brothers Alhaji (Dillon Daniel Mutyaba) and Sheku (Omete Anassi) haven’t seen each other in some time with the older, Alhaji, being an actor living in Hollywood and the younger, Sheku, studying to be a lawyer at Georgetown Law. In a break from the distance, Sheku comes to visit for a long weekend, taking in the sights of Los Angeles and seeing for himself the opportunities that his brother’s been able to make for himself. Meanwhile, Alhaji gets to celebrate his brother’s academic and professional success, bragging to his fellow Hollywood dreamers about the intelligence his brother possesses and how that’s going to lead to financial empowerment the likes none of them can imagine. But amid this reunion comes an unexpected distance as the two brothers discuss their triumphs, while each dance around the grenades lobbed by familial discord and generational expectations.
According to the press notes, Kamara is a first-generation Sierra Leonean American, a Virginia native, and a graduate of William and Mary and AFI. Add in a note that informs the reader that he has siblings and a picture forms wherein African Giants possesses autobiographical elements from which this work of fiction sprung. It doesn’t matter how much of the plot is true as the emotional elements are what drive the characters forward as well as cause the audience to lean-in. The film is executed like a staged production, the characters come into a space, engage with each other there and, through a cut, are transported elsewhere. This translates to long exchanges with copious dialogue that’s frequently about something other than what’s being said. Kamara has a gift for the unspoken, the negative space, wherein Sheku and Alhaji exist as both separate from their parents, present as individuals, and yet representative avatars so that everything cuts two ways, even when the characters would hope it not. Though it is the performances from Mutyaba and Anassi that hold us in thrall, its Kamara’s perspective that places us there to begin with.
L-R: Dillon Daniel Mutyaba as Alhaji and Omete Anassi as Sheku in AFRICAN GIANTS. Photo courtesy of Prodigy PR.
Admittedly, African Giants is a touch predictable with both brothers in possession of a secret, the limited period in which they will be together (Thursday until Sunday morning) which places a ticking clock on everything, and their respective views of what it means to be a member of their family. One can easily deduce on which day what revelation will drop, how various challenges will be faced, and what the ultimate outcome will be; however, the way in which the film navigates this well-worn path keeps us engaged — which goes back to Kamara. Using a conversation about athletes born out of playing a video game, Kamara is able to discern the similarities and differences of their perspectives despite growing up in the same house. Through commiserating about their experience going to a private Christian school in Virginia compared to where they each sit now, we learn of their view of adversity. In a surprising extended take around breakfast, we join the two at a small table to eavesdrop on a conversation about how their lives are viewed by their African cousins and the internal struggle it creates. Each of these conversations, varying from the superficial to the significant, provides the audience with valuable insight into each of these young men as Americans, as immigrants, and as people trying to figure out their way in the world. One thing that Kamara makes clear, each brother, regardless of age, provides the other with the opportunity to go further than they each imagine they can on their own simply by being in their emotional corner. Pushing them to do be the best version of themselves that they can in order to live up to the ideal they each believe the other has for them.
In terms of perspective, one doesn’t need to see things from Kamara’s specific viewpoint to understand the conflict on display. Have you ever known someone who wanted to do something, but you weren’t sure they were cut out for it? Alhaji sees his brother this way with Mutyaba’s performance communicating the complexity of both wanting something great for another while also wanting to protect them from harsh truths. Have you ever seen the pain that courses through another and recognize that they are holding themselves in a place of pain that could be resolved by being the first to take a step toward reconciliation? Sheku recognizes this within Alhaji and Anassi’s presentation captures the complexity of wanting to bring peace within someone they love but struggle to do so due to familial bonds and social expectations. If one doesn’t have a sibling with a complicated home life, it may be difficult to believe for an entire film and, yet, it’s something that resonates on a frequency that those, such as this reviewer, are in tuned to. Kamara perfectly captures the duality of individualism and familial responsibility that weighs down a lot of sibling relationships as they grapple to be unique unto themselves, but, by virtue of being raised within the same house by the same people, tend to react to information in predictable/unpredictable ways dependent on one’s relationship to the parents. In short, siblings oscillate between being a friend and being a faux-parent within seconds, capable of being the one to get you *into* trouble in one moment, laughing maniacally as they do, and ripping you a new one for displaying immature attitudes or reluctance to think things through. Especially with the performances from his leads which seem to leave one feeling raw and vulnerable, Kamara’s work becomes a film that lingers through its honesty.
L-R: Dillon Daniel Mutyaba as Alhaji and Omete Anassi as Sheku in AFRICAN GIANTS. Photo courtesy of Prodigy PR.
African Giants is a beautiful family story about the dual role of relatives and the pain/joy that comes from being someone else’s keeper. It’s not something that single children can really understand, even with children of their own. Siblings are secret-keepers, the first friend you’ll have and (if you’re lucky) one of the best, and caretakers. In my lifetime, I’ve nursed each of my older brothers whether through too much booze or by medical necessity and they’ve reciprocated (at least for the medical portion) on multiple occasions. My two brothers, even with time and distance brought about by different approaches to COVID-19 precautions, are never far from my mind or my heart. In my house, I always looked up to my brothers, watching them for what they did right and wrong, learning always as I tried to navigate the complexity of our own home. The way Kamara writes the story of these two siblings, the same seems to be true (to a degree) for him, noting his siblings as individual beings for whom he bared a certain responsibility. This much comes through in the writing, the structure, and arcs of his characters, all of which is brought to life beautifully by Mutyaba and Anassi, actors who may as well be brothers themselves by their portrayal. The film itself may walk a path we know, the journey is what makes the whole experience worth it.
Screened during Slamdance Film Festival 2024.
For more information, head to the official Slamdance African Giants webpage.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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