An intricately observed tale of growing up in colonial Cameroon, Denis’ feature debut instantly announced her as an auteur of the intimate. Although Denis has often demurred over the film's autobiographical dimensions, many have read her own life story in the coming of age of a young woman, provocatively named France, during the twilight of French colonial authority in Africa in the 1950s. Pivoting around the complex network of relationships that bind this young woman and her family to their “boy” Protée, Chocolat navigates the minefields of gender and sexuality under colonialism with a rare emotional honesty.