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This film will be screened extra muros at the Cinematek.
Souleymane Cissé’s film sheds light on the search for identity among young Malians, between ancestral tradition and the ambitions of power. Bah, son of Kansaye, and Batrou, daughter of military governor Sangaré, belong to a generation of students who defy the established order. After cheating on an exam, repression at university leads them to imprisonment.
This film is presented as part of a Close-up devoted to Souleymane Cissé. Born in Bamako in 1940, Souleymane Cissé became interested in cinema at the age of 7. After studying in Dakar and Moscow, he returned to Mali in the 1970s and worked as a cameraman/reporter. In 1975, he directed Den Muso (The Young Girl), his first Malian feature film, which landed him in prison. This was followed by Baara (Work) (1977), Finyè (The Wind) (1981) and Yeelen (Brightness) (1987), which won the Jury Prize at Cannes. His last film, Waati (Time) (1995), was also selected for Cannes. Cissé has also produced a number of recent works, including Un Malien à Paris (A Malian in Paris (1999). As a politically conscious director, he is the founder of UCECAO (Union of West African Film and Audiovisual Creators and Entrepreneurs) and was appointed Commander of the National Order of Mali in 2006.