Beninese Director Aymar Esse Explores Trans Identity in Sene

Aymar Esse, a Beninese director, brings his latest work to the international stage with the world premiere of “My Father’s Kora” (“La Kora de Mon Père”) at the Locarno Film Festival. The Benin-Switzerland-Germany production makes its debut on August 9 in the festival’s Open Doors section, which has spotlighted 42 countries of the African continent since 2025. The film tackles complex themes of identity, faith, and belonging through a deeply personal narrative set against the backdrop of traditional Muslim culture in Senegal.

The documentary follows Souleymane Everston Adowo Freudenreich, an Afro-German trans man who travels to Dakar, Senegal, to repair his father’s kora. The kora, classified as a harp or lute, serves as a powerful metaphor throughout the film for Souleymane‘s search for identity and acceptance. Through this journey of physical repair, Esse crafts a narrative exploring the possibility of emotional and spiritual healing within a cultural context that often challenges queer identities.

A Poetic Approach to Complex Themes

Director Aymar Esse describes his work as more than a simple documentary. “It’s a film about repair, memory, and transmission,” Esse explains. The filmmaker emphasizes that his approach listens as much as it observes, employing a poetic and sensory language to explore identity, silence, faith, and the healing power of music, sewing, and the ocean. He positions the work as a quiet reflection on what can be repaired and what remains uncertain, rather than offering definitive answers.

Esse deliberately distances his film from conventional activist cinema. “It is not an activist film in the strict sense,” he states. Instead, he frames the documentary as an invitation to see the other without rushing to define them, to recognize a human being before a category. The director believes cinema can sometimes open a small breach in the wall of certainties, creating space for understanding beyond rigid categories and assumptions.

The Kora as Living Instrument and Metaphor

The kora itself holds deep cultural significance that extends beyond its role as a musical instrument. Esse describes the kora as a profoundly living instrument, almost a voice in its own right. Born in the Mandingue cultural world, it carries a long history of transmission, memory, and poetry, and maintains deep connections to the griots-those guardians of speech, genealogy, and storytelling. In their hands, the kora transcends its physical form to become a link between generations, between the living and the ancestors, between the past and the present.

The instrument’s sound particularly moves Esse, who describes it as something very soothing, very enveloping, almost like water flowing. This quality makes the kora an ideal metaphor for the film’s central narrative. Esse explains that the idea of using the kora as a metaphor emerged from having a musical instrument that is broken and a character who is also trying to understand himself and find his place. The parallel between physical repair and personal journey creates the film’s emotional core.

International Collaboration and Support

The production represents a multinational collaborative effort spanning three countries. Esse produced the film through his company SunRise Films, with co-production support from Aline Bonvin Film Video in Switzerland, Seera Films in Germany, and 274 Studio, also based in Switzerland. The film was developed within the framework of Steps’ Generation Africa program, with financial support from the Swiss Cooperation Office in Benin.

Following its premiere at Locarno, the film will continue its festival circuit with its German premiere scheduled for the Afrika Film Festival Köln in September. This progression through European festivals positions the work for broader international exposure and critical reception.

Exploring Identity Within Traditional Contexts

The film’s setting in Senegal adds layers of complexity to its exploration of queer identity. By placing Souleymane‘s journey within a traditional Muslim culture, Esse confronts the tensions between personal identity and cultural expectations. The documentary examines not only the challenges of being trans in such an environment but also the possibility of finding acceptance and belonging across seemingly insurmountable divides.

The film employs multiple healing modalities beyond music, incorporating sewing and the ocean as additional sources of comfort and connection. This multifaceted approach to repair-both literal and metaphorical-suggests that healing occurs through various pathways. Esse’s focus on silence and observation allows space for complexity, refusing to reduce his subject’s experience to simple narratives or predetermined conclusions.

A New Voice in African Cinema

The selection of “My Father’s Kora” for Locarno‘s Open Doors section highlights the festival’s commitment to showcasing diverse African voices. The platform provides crucial visibility for filmmakers working outside traditional Western production centers. Esse’s poetic approach distinguishes his work within contemporary documentary filmmaking, offering an alternative to more conventional narrative structures.

The director’s emphasis on recognizing a human being before a category challenges audiences to approach difference with openness rather than judgment. By framing the film as an invitation rather than a declaration, Esse creates space for dialogue and reflection. His work contributes to expanding representations of African queer identities in international cinema, offering nuanced perspectives that resist simplification.

As “My Father’s Kora” prepares for its world premiere, it stands as a testament to the power of personal storytelling to illuminate universal themes. Through the specific journey of one Afro-German trans man and a broken musical instrument, Aymar Esse crafts a meditation on what it means to seek wholeness in a world that often demands conformity. The film’s success will be measured not in definitive answers but in the questions it invites audiences to consider about identity, tradition, and the possibility of repair.