When the Stars Meet the Sea (1996)

This film is one of the most magical to come out of Africa, hardly surprising since Madagascar is unlike anywhere else on earth. Raymond Rajaonarivelo follows his epic first film on the Malagasy liberation struggle, TABA TABA, with a very different, poetic film exploring the relationship between traditional and modern concepts of human freedom. As the title suggests, Rajaonarivelo frames his film around three visual symbols or leit motifs, sky, sea and, by implication, the land marooned between them or life between birth and death. Set among the island's high mesas, all the major characters dream of escaping this parched interior to return to the oceanic mother, Rano Masina or "sacred water" in Malagasy. Rajaonarivelo characterizes life in the arid highlands, whether in the superstitious village or the corrupt city, as unremittingly predatory. The hero of this film is such a child; his mother died in childbirth but he is rescued from his fate by a young, childless woman and named Kapila, "the lame one," because of an injury he suffered in the corral. As in any quest narrative, Kapila must embark on a journey to discover his true identity and purpose in life.