Poised at the outer edge of the modern world in a remote African village, Coumba hatches a secret plan to rescue her beloved little sister from an arranged marriage. Inspired by true stories,  Tall as the Baobab Tree poignantly depicts a family struggling to find their footing  at the edge of the modern world... where questions of right and wrong are not always black and white.

Director's Statement

Jeremy Teicher 2012

Tall as the Baobab Tree is about standing up for your beliefs and doing what you feel is right, no matter what. To me, the film speaks to the energy and idealism of youth while portraying a very stark and realistic world where change is two steps forward and one step back, where the invincibility of youth bends beneath the harsh realities of life – but is not stamped out.

Working in collaboration with local students from the village of Sinthiou Mbadane, Senegal, we set out to tell a story that captures the emotions of the traditional and modern worlds colliding. 

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My hope is that by opening up such an intimate window into village life, the film will move people to look past cultural differences and empathize with the story’s deep feelings of love, hope, and sacrifice. While many contemporary films coming from Africa draw attention to themselves through violence and sensationalism, my film is a peaceful story that seeks to bring people closer together through intimacy and honesty.

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I really strove to truthfully represent the villagers and their culture, countering the one-dimensional approach taken by many other media representations of rural Africans.  I wanted to avoid contributing to the “othering” of rural Africans…all the lingering, uncomfortable feelings of guilt that I’d picked up from the Western media portrayal of “poor Africans.”

My own feelings  with the villagers quickly shifted to respect—respect for their culture, their optimism, and their work ethic. Respect for the students, only a few years younger than me, who were pursuing a formal education against incredible odds. The contrast between my expectations and the reality I encountered was profound.

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