Fanta is a fourteen-year-old living in Guinea. She’s always had a talent for contortion, and she's been given a chance to perfect the skill with a local acrobatics group. Her teacher and troupe leader, the famed Balla Moussa Bangoura, sees in her great potential and wants Fanta to be a part of his traveling act. Fanta struggles, however, as school and the responsibility of home life come crashing back down around her. Fanta isn’t quite sure what she wants, but she begins (as many teenagers do) to bristle against the expectations of others. The film watches the young woman blossom as she learns to juggle her desires, responsibilities, and others' expectations.
Fantastique is described as a “magical-realism documentary,” and at first I found this interesting and compelling. However, the more I read about the filmmaker and her opinions on the film, the more uncomfortable I felt about this framing. It’s hard to express some of the more complex issues that have arisen in my mind since I first viewed this film, so I’ll try to keep it brief and clear. In the few interviews I’ve found with director Marjolijn Prins, she frequently refers to her subjects as “characters” only moments after discussing the ‘objective vérité stylings’ she relied on to make this “documentary.” So which is it? Is it a story made from real footage, or is it a vérité documentary? Trying to have it both ways creates an uneasy tension between those two approaches and raises larger questions about representation, authorship, and the perspective through which Fanta’s story is being presented.
At first, I was swept up in the sights and sounds, the almost trance-like way practices and performances were portrayed, but on further reflection, I became increasingly aware of how much this storybook presentation is being shaped from the real experiences of its subjects for an outside audience. It left me questioning the degree to which the film’s construction serves the people being documented versus the narrative envisioned by the filmmaker, treating these real lives not simply as documentary subjects but as pieces of a narrative she was actively crafting. This was a difficult review to write, especially because the cinematography in Fantastique is so phenomenal and the story itself is incredibly compelling, but the tension between its cinéma vérité influences and the filmmaker’s acknowledged narrative construction is significant enough that I cannot overlook it. Some people will massively enjoy Fantastique for its coming-of-age story and beautiful camerawork, but the questions it raises about cultural representation and who ultimately shapes the story remained difficult for me to set aside, and some viewers may feel the same. Strong Optional Purchase.
What academic subjects or university courses could use this Guinea documentary?
Fantastique offers particularly interesting material for courses in documentary studies, African studies, anthropology, media ethics, and postcolonial studies. Fanta's coming-of-age story provides an accessible entry point into discussions of adolescence, family expectations, education, and artistic ambition in Guinea, while the filmmaking itself raises more complicated questions about authorship and representation. Students can examine the boundaries between cinéma vérité and constructed storytelling, as well as the ethical responsibilities involved when Western filmmakers document communities and cultures outside their own.
Which audiences will get the most out of Fantastique?
Fantastique will appeal to viewers interested in coming-of-age documentaries, African cinema, acrobatics, and visually ambitious nonfiction filmmaking. Fanta's efforts to balance her emerging talents with school, family responsibilities, and expectations create a compelling story, complemented by striking cinematography and performance sequences. The film may prove more complicated for audiences sensitive to questions of documentary ethics and representation, but those concerns can also make Fantastique a worthwhile choice for film clubs and discussion-based screenings examining who gets to shape the stories told about other people's lives.
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