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Set in a timeless past, Yeelen recounts the mythic tale of a power struggle between father and son. Soma Diarra, the jealous father and member of a feared Bambara secret society, plots to kill his son and rival, Nianankoro. Highly stylized and deliberately paced, Yeelen forces the viewer to navigate fundamental oppositions: change and tradition, life and death, light and darkness. Inspired by the classic oral literature of the Mande, Cissè traces the circle of time and shows us that the origin and the end are one and the same.
Soulemayne Cissé (1940 – Mali) is one of the most prominent and respected African film directors who has marked the history of cinema since the beginning of his career, in the 70s. His movies have been shown in festivals all over the world. Yeelen (1987) won the Cannes Jury Prize. He is the founder and president of the Union of West African Film and Audiovisual Creators and entrepreneurs.