Fantastique follows Fanta Turpin, a fourteen-year-old Guinean contortionist who has to juggle school with her passion, while also caring for her sick mother.
By Vivian Nneka Nwajiaku
This month completes a year of the Afrocritik Documentary Spotlight. For us, it is a project dear to the heart as the documentary is a deeply consequential film format—literally documenting life, history, and growth, albeit within particular framings. It is too essential a form to be ignored or forgotten, one that captures the breadth of the African experience, from the devastating effects of conflict and systemic neglect to the value of sports, entertainment, and culture.
Some of the most heartfelt documentaries we have spotlighted are those that document the hopes, dedication and success of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, from an African superstar who has come a long way from his breakout as a teenager to headlining a record-breaking sold-out stadium show in London, to an eleven-year-old boy earning a life-changing opportunity to attend a prestigious UK ballet school on scholarship after years of being ridiculed for being a male ballet dancer.
So, it is fitting that we mark this landmark edition with another inspirational coming-of-age documentary about an African child doing unusual things. Fantastique (2025), titled Fantastic in English, follows Fanta Turpin, a fourteen-year-old Guinean contortionist who has to juggle school with her passion while also caring for her sick mother. A co-production of Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, Fantastique is the debut feature by Marjolijn Prins, a Dutch filmmaker based in Brussels. But the documentary was filmed in Matam, in the Conakry Region of Guinea.
Fanta has always had the gift of twisting her body into unnatural shapes, and at fourteen, her ability is uncommon and a sight to behold. She trains with the acrobatic circus Amoukanama, where she is one of the few girls and one of the youngest. She hopes to join their next big tour. But with an ailing mother and a family split between supporting her pursuit of the art she loves and ensuring her education, Fanta struggles to keep up, as the possibility of living her dream and touring with the circus becomes slimmer with each passing day.
The documentary adopts a fly-on-the-wall approach, immersing us in Fanta’s world and observing her as she attempts to balance her domestic life, her education, and her training. And Prins adds a unique touch to the experience. Fantastique is a magical-realist documentary, with Prins embedding fantasy elements into the picture to craft a dreamlike experience—an imagery that is also naturally furthered by the acrobatic performances that feature across the film.
This hybrid style makes Fantastique a perfect case study for the extent of control which a documentary filmmaker has over how a documentary frames the narrative that it portrays, underscoring the great power and responsibility that comes with the documentary format. But as a byproduct of that conversation, Fantastique also raises the question of how much influence the filmmaker and their camera should actually have over the story, especially since Fanta’s journey eventually unfolds in a manner that hints at external intervention.
Regardless, Prins succeeds in telling Fanta’s story of talent, resilience, and dedication in a warm, poetic picture that certainly leaves a lasting impression.
Runtime: 71 minutes
*Fantastique had its world premiere during the Kids Screenings at the Locarno Film Festival 2025 and subsequently screened at the S16 Film Festival in the same year. The documentary is scheduled to screen at the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival from 7th June 2026.
Vivian Nneka Nwajiaku is a writer and film critic writing from Lagos. She has a master’s degree in law but spends most of her time consuming, studying and discussing film and TV. She’s particularly concerned about what art has to say about society’s relationship with women. Connect with her on X @Nneka_Viv