Winner of the Human Rights Award from the United Nations in 2003, this Guinean fable caused a minor scandal in France with its portrait of a Parisian society less welcoming than the French would imagine. Among lush green foothills near a magnificent waterfall in Guinea, the grizzled and respected villager Moussa (played by the director) is appointed by the village chiefs to head to Paris to buy a new water pump. Getting to Paris isn’t a problem, but living there certainly is, especially after Moussa has his money stolen. His travails—washing dishes at a Chinese restaurant, squatting with fellow immigrants in a church, meeting other Guineans in exile, and, above all, keeping one step ahead of the immigration police—are tempered by the kindness of strangers. An African fable rewritten as a Molière farce, Paris selon Moussa cushions its blows in a gentle humanity, but its effect is still as fierce as any political tract.

—Jason Sanders

• Written by Doukouré, Danielle Ryan. Photographed by Hugues de Haeck. With Doukouré, Elisabeth Vitali, Vincent McDoom, Mariam Kaba. (96 mins, In French with English subtitles, Color, Beta SP)