Forget Spielberg's Amistad.  Pretend John Singleton's Rosewood never happened.  Take all the video copies of Beloved and…okay, maybe that's going too far.  The point is that most films we've seen about slavery are the same story over and over and over again.  Sure, they make you mad and tug at your heartstrings (and cause white people to feel really uncomfortable for the better part of the ride home...until "All-Star" comes on the radio), but most follow the same formula, which is why the quality of the genre has gradually taken a nosedive since Roots aired on television.

Enter Roger Gnoan M'Bala's Adanggaman, a somewhat exciting new film from the Ivory Coast that breaks the lame American cinematic slavery mold.  It's set entirely in Africa (Guineau, to be exact) during the late 17th century, and, at least from its first few scenes, doesn't seem like it's going to deal with slavery at all.  Adanggaman starts with a young couple having sex; the guy is Ossei (Ziable Honoré Goore Bi), and his father is forcing him to marry a different girl.

After being mercilessly beaten by his father for carrying on with this other girl, Ossei packs up his bow and best pelt and hits the road.  He returns a few days later, only to find his village torched, his father dead, and most of the others missing.  What Ossei doesn't know is that his missing neighbors have been captured by an extremely well-organized group of giant, bloodthirsty female warriors.  These Amazonesque women work for the power-hungry King Adanggaman, who, in turn, sells unsuspecting villagers to the Dutch for guns and rum.

The rest of Adanggaman follows Ossei's fight to free his family from the King's steely grip.  His journey includes befriending a faith-healer with a warrior daughter, for whom Ossei falls.  The shockingly brutal film also teaches certain slave auction protocol, like that the bidding begins with sheep, then moves on to cows, then goats.  Then, and only then, can you bid with yams.

1:30 –

but contains nudity and sexual content