FESTIVAL OF SLAPS ｜ Omeleto

A woman slaps her son. Ade is joining his Nigerian parents for a celebratory dinner at an elegant restaurant in London. But at one point, his mother slaps him hard, to the shock of the other restaurant patrons. The force of the slap brings up memories of Ade's past, of growing up in South London with his immigrant parents, when he and his mom would clash over his happy-go-lucky, free-spirited attitude and lackadaisical attitude to life. But the present-day slap, as well as the flow of memory it releases, makes him reflect on Ade's own parenting of his daughter Emma -- and all the things he learned from his mother. Directed and written by Abdou Cisse, this dynamic short dramedy is, at its heart, a family narrative examining the clash between old-fashioned tough-love African parenting styles and modernity -- a contrast that also informs the film's considerable stylistic risks and energy, making for a watch that is as intriguing and entertaining as it is reflective and empathetic to both generations's perspectives. The narrative's jumping-off point is the slap in the restaurant, followed by a catalog of conflicts that Ade has had with his mother over time. The film's title references a popular hashtag on Nigerian TikTok, and in many ways, many of the film's visual strategies seem to feed off the platform's cocktail of irreverent wit and quicksilver energy, from the hilariously heightened operatic slow-motion drama of the slaps to the action-packed editing to the almost fractured narrative.