Just about
everything in this witty tale set in contemporary West Africa, where we face
a few basic questions. What is charity anyway? And who gives what to
whom?
Government
officials are pitted against beggars, all in the name of saving tourism. At
least that’s what the officials seem to think is at stake. But it seems
there’s something deeper, more spiritual going on here. The Beggars’
Strike tells the story of an Islamic West African community caught
between the pressures of traditional and contemporary values. The
government wants to increase tourism as a source of revenue and thinks in
order to do so they must rid the city streets of the ragged beggars. But,
the beggars are essential to the spiritual life of the community, and they
know it. They deliver the prayers of the people to God. As the government
plans to remove the city beggars, all the beggars decide to strike. What
follows is an avalanche of mistaken identities, hilarious chaos and
befuddled orders. A complex tapestry of human nature, punctuated with
exhilarating West-African Afro pop music. And just when you’re sure you
know where it’s going, turns out you don’t. You’ll laugh so hard you’ll
think.