Djembefola (1991) by Laurent Chevallier celebrates the homecoming of djembe virtuoso Mamady Keita from his home in Brussels to his family's village in Guinea. The film documents Keita's hammy mode of performing and contagious love for drumming. At all times, Chevallier keeps his charismatic lead character front and center. Keita makes his way from teaching djembe in a staid classroom in Brussels to the post colonial city of Conakry to the village he left 26 years before, with reunions and opportunities to play the drums along the way. The film's structure builds to a series of encounters at the village and Keita's search for the answer to how he came to be a drummer.
