Augustus is a period piece and an homage to an innovation that changed the world: photography. We are in mid-19th century. Between the Senegal river and the Atlantic Ocean lies a small island called “Ndar” by the local fishermen and traders who have lived here for a long time. As Europeans’ presence in the island grows the slave and gum trades created a polarizing space where the Ndar-Ndar and foreigners mingle, marry and meet each other with equal respect, or so it seems. At that moment, Augustus Washington (1820-1875), daguerreotypist and entrepreneur, sailed with his wife and two children to the West African nation of Liberia. A direct descendant of slaves, he is disillusioned with America’s promise of freedom. He was one of the 16,000 Black Americans who migrated in search for equality. Augustus visited Saint-Louis and is the first documented portrait photographer to open a studio in Senegal. That’s when the film begins.

Through the lives and looks of three different characters we will witness life and its challenges in the island: Augustus, an African-American visitor, Marie, a mixed-race woman married to a French colonial officer and Ndatte, the queen of Walo, the last standing kingdoms in Senegal. If good and bad exist, they will be embedded in each character. They are biased, driven and convinced that they are saving the island. They have a common flaw, they are humans. But that may also be, what will save them.