Italy/Senegal 2006, Italian and Wolof with English subtitles, 35mm, 110 min
Director: Laura Muscardin
Screenplay: Marco Bonini, Mbacke Gadji, Laura Muscardin, Lucilla Schiaffino
Cinematography: Teresa Punzi
Cast: Marco Bonini, Paolo Gasparini, Luisa De Santis, Thierno Thiam, Susy Laude, Lella Costa, Paul N'Dour, Carmen De Santos, Daba Soumarè, Boubacar Ba
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Billo is a young Senegalese man who smuggles himself to Italy . He has dreams of being a fashion designer and selling his garments to the couture market, but ends up like so many other immigrants, selling CDs and DVDs. He is arrested for doing so but then charged with being an Islamic terrorist because he has the same name as a suspected terrorist. He is subsequently released and gets a chance to work in the fashion industry and fall in love. But a life and a wife are waiting for him back in Dakar .
Co-produced by Youssou N'dour, this is a heart-warming film that is filled with an overwhelming optimism despite the hard time that Billo has of things. The film's success is due in no small part from a winning performance from Thierno Thiam as the central protagonist.
Billo rises above a slew of films about the North African experience in Europe . Without deferring to stereotypes, Laura Muscardin gives us a film whose central message is one of shared humanity.
The Cape Winelands will again at the 2012 edition of this festival present a series of Masterclasses and workshops. These events are sponsored by the City of Cape Town and Wesgro.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes festival, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s new film has the magic of a fairy tale and the simplicity of a folk tale. Wonderfully immersive, slow and dreamy, 
