Reminiscent of the Stephen Frears/Hanif Kureishi collaborations of the 1980s, Sex, Okra and Salted Butter offers a marked contrast with Haroun’s earlier features. An ensemble comedy set in France, Haroun’s latest film tells the story of a recently emigrated African family reeling from the mother’s sudden departure with her white lover, merely the first in a series of shifts that shake the family—and especially its patriarch—to the core. Many of Haroun’s signature preoccupations are in full flower, however: absent parents, revenge versus reconciliation—all seen through his lucid visual style that gives this sharp-edged comedy of manners plenty of space to breathe onscreen.

Kalala was the Congolese name of Hissein Djibrine, Haroun’s close collaborator and best friend, who hid that he was HIV-positive until his sudden death in 2003 at the age of 40. Of this poetic documentary, dedicated to his friend, Haroun has said, “I thought of this film not only as a filmed diary but also as an investigation into memory, cinema and illness.”