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| Folklife Festival 2003 > Mali > Film Festival |
| film festival | |
| Malian Cinema on the Mall Open Free to the Public Baird Auditorium Ground Floor, National Museum of Natural History |
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| Screening times: 1 pm | |
| Acclaimed feature length films, two documentaries, and one animation from Mali, shown in conjunction with the 2003 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Malian cinema is known for its rich storytelling and imagery. | |
| Thursday June 26, 2003 | |
| Guimba, un Tyran un Epoque (Guimba
the Tyrant). (1995, 93 min. In Bambara and Peul/Eng. subtitles.) |
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| Winner of the most prestigious award of African cinema, the 1995 Yennenga Stallion, this film is a meditation on tyranny and demonstrates indeed that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Guimba's tyranny knows no boundaries. His excesses, however, bring about his inevitable downfall. Director: Cheick Oumar Sissoko. | |
| Friday June 27, 2003 | |
| Kabala. (2002, 76 min. In Bambara and French/Eng. subtitles.) | |
| The well in this small town of the Mandé is drying up; but the elders will not accept human intervention, fearing that it would desecrate the well. However, when Hamala returns to Kabala after four years of absence, things are bound to change. Director: Assane Kouyaté | |
| Sunday June 29, 2003 | |
| Bamako Sigi Kan (The Pact
of Bamako). (2002, 76 min. In Bambara, French, and English) |
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| In this documentary, Manthia Diawara returns to Bamako from New York City where he lives and captures the concerns and aspirations of Malians at the beginning of the 21st century. These include conflicting views about globalization and the desire of Malian youth for uncensored self expression through hip hop and sabar. (local dance form). Director: Manthia Diawara, in person. | |
| Wednesday July 2, 2003 | |
| Passé vivant (Living
Memory). (2003, 53 min. In Bambara and French/Eng. subtitles.) |
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| This first installment of a six part documentary film series is arguably one of the most comprehensive looks at Malian art and culture on film. It explores issues of photography, music, architecture, ritual arts, and the complexities of cultural display. In person: Susan Vogel (writer/director) and Samuel Sidibé (producer/writer). | |
| L'enfant terrible (The Mischievous
Child). (Animation, 1993, 12 min.) |
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| This is the story of a child who talks, eats and walks on the day of his birth. A few days later, he goes looking for his brother, finds him, and they journey together. What follows is the adventure of a little, ungrateful boy who drags his brother into his wrongdoing. A film by Kadiatou Konaté. (For six years and older) | |
| Thursday July 3, 2003 | |
| Faraw, mère des sables
(Faraw, Mother of the Dunes). (1997, 90 min. In Songhoi/Eng. subtitles.) |
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| This is a story of a woman's self determination in the face of tremendous obstacles. Zamiatou is the mother of two boys and a teenage girl and the wife of a tortured former political prisoner. Refusing to let her daughter resort to prostitution to provide for the family, she takes her family's destiny in her own hands and walks miles in the desert in search of daily bread * Director: Abdoulaye Ascofaré. | |
| Friday July 4, 2003 | |
| La Genèse (Genesis).
(1999, 102 min. In Bambara/Eng. Subtitles.) |
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| La Genèse is director Sissoko's adaptation of chapters 24, 25, 34 and 37 of the Book of Genesis. Using non linear storytelling techniques and gorgeous Malian settings and costumes, this film is an allegorical meditation on fratricidal war anywhere in the world. Director: Cheick Oumar Sissoko. | |
| Saturday July, 2003 | |
| Taafe Fanga (Skirt
Power). (1997, 95 min.) |
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| In Kaado and Bambara/Eng. subtitles.) Set in the Dogon country in the 18th century, this film adapts a Dogon myth in which women take power from men and invert gender roles. Men cook, take care of babies and wear skirts, while women enjoy smoking, wearing trousers and making decisions. The war of the sexes is declared. Who will win? Director: Adama Drabo. | |
| Sunday July 6, 2003 | |
| Yeelen. (1987, 105 min. In Bambara/Eng. Subtitles.) |
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| When Souleymane Cissé released Yeelen in 1987, it became an instant classic of world cinema. Nianankoro (Issiaka Kane), a young man, acquires the secret knowledge of Komo; but he is pursued by his father Soma (Niamanto Sanogo) who wants him dead because he cannot stand his son being his equal. The final confrontation between father and son is a piece of cinema history. Director: Souleymane Cissé | |
| Presented in conjunction with the 2003 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the National Museum of Natural History's Office of Education and African Voices Program ,with support from the United States Department of State. | |
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