The Rising - Ennead 1

Scene 7 - Pulling in The Threads; Act 2

M'Bour, Région de Thies, Sénégal
(M'Bour, Thies Region, Senegal)
A tall bear-like man with a craggy face [Olaf] walks down a beach (fishing beach: shouts in distance in local language peppered with French) with a young African girl in cornrows dressed in a white and brown school uniform and a pink backpack [Yaa Asantewaa Boateng]

OLAF
We didn't have to come all the way out here Mother [Heavy Russian accent]

YAA
[distracted] Mmmm?

OLAF
Your break over in less than... [glances at Breitling Navitimer] 15 minutes.

YAA
Mmmmm

OLAF
Mother must eat. She hasn't been taking good care of herself lately.

Yaa stops and leans against Olaf with one hand as she takes of her socks and shoes. She looks down at her and smiles as she wiggles her feet in the sand. She then shades her eyes and looks around at the various sights on the beach

SHIFT CAMERA PERSPECTIVE:
FLASH - Men working on boats.
FLASH - Kids running by and laughing.
FLASH - Tourists strolling.

Yaa Looks up at Olaf.

YAA
Olly bear. You always take very good care of me...

Where is Henry?

OLAF
Gaines, he came earlier Mother. Tells me he found the boy.

YAA
[nods slowly] Is he very far?

OLAF
[hesitantly]... Quite.
[sighs] Piggy back?

YAA
You know me so well. It would be seriously bad if I got back to class sweaty.
[smiles sweetly]

Olaf squats and waits for her to settle onto his back before he lumbers off.

FADE TO...
Bustling crowd scene around a space on the sand marked off with white washed stones. Several men seem to making and taking wagers. A tiny, old, morose looking man in a pristine white jellabiya paces methodically in the space searching... perhaps for glass or any pointy objects. Satisfied, he nods.

At his signal two swarthy, extremely dark skinned men step into the ring. Both are bald and clad only in basic loincloth. Both men, wrestlers, pose and strut as introductions are made and rules are recounted.

The crowd seems to already have its favorite. Taller than the other wrestler by a hand and with a white band tied around his waist and another on his right wrist - the crowd goes crazy when his name is mentioned.

A youth, possibly in his early twenties, watches the proceedings - skin the color of strongly brewed coffee without additives, tall, spare build but well toned. Face has a prominent and complex scar on left cheekbone [Issah Sene].

CAMERA FOCUS ON... His hands count a set of worn prayer beads and his eyes flicker through the crowd.

SHIFT CAMERA FOCUS TO REVEAL

A tourist in a wide brimmed hat, [Henry Gaines] - sitting at drinking-shed - closely observes Issah Sene. His knobbly knees are shown off in his cargo shorts. CAMERA FOCUS ON The squint of his eye and crows feet at their corners, indicating a more advanced age than his looks.

The roar of the small crowd lowers to a simmer as the wrestlers begin to circle each other.

CAMERA SHOWS BEADS COUNTING AGAIN

Each wrestler feints a strike several times then falls back to circling again.

SHIFT TO DRINKING SHED CAM.