Drug lords, a coup, mercenaries, magic. Writer/director Jean Luc Herbulot creates a genre cocktail with tons of surprises in store. As a lifelong lover of movies, Herbulot could not help but notice the lack of African heroes in his beloved films, so he created some. He explains his inspiration as “The time has come for Katiopa (Africa in our indigenous language) to bring its heroes and myths into the modern mix” basically, it’s about damn time, and we couldn’t agree more. Saloum is layered with elements of African reality along with a healthy dose of fantasy elements to create a world uniquely Herbulot. The influences are evident here; Herbulot cites “Sergio Leone’s Westerns, Akira Kurosawa’s Samurai films, Jean Pierre Melville’s Noirs, George Miller’s post-apocalyptic action, and the Kim Jee-woon’s and the Park Chan-wook’s of the filmic world” but he blends them together with African history and African lore to create something very likely to be unlike anything you’ve seen before.
This is the sort of movie you get excited to share with others. I watched it alone on my couch, and as soon as it was over, I was immediately excited at the prospect of watching it at Fantastic Fest with friends. The experience did not disappoint. My movie-going companions let out audible reactions of excitement and surprise. That’s what Herbulot does — he catches you by surprise. Herbulot is on a mission to change the face of what we expect from African filmmakers, and he’s off to a fantastic start. We had the pleasure of chatting with Herbulot about Saloum, check out the full Convo X Fango here:
