APRIL 11: TIMBUKTU
Dir: Abderrahmane Sissako
France/Mauritania/Mali, 2014
Arabic, French, Tamashek with subtitles
97 minutes
Cast: Abel Jafri, Toulou Kiki, Ibrahim Ahmed
Set during the early days of the 2012 fundamentalist takeover of northern Mali, Timbuktu is a powerful drama about the everyday woes and resistance of ordinary people in a city overrun by extremist foreign fighters.
Under new fundamentalist rulers, music, laughter, and sports (even soccer) have been prohibited, women have been forced to cover their heads on pain of death, and kangaroo courts have been established that hand down horrendous punishments for even the slightest and most absurd of infractions.
Kidane, a proud, independent herder who lives on the edge of the city with his wife, daughter and adopted son, has so far been unaffected by the city’s harsh new regime. But when, during a row over the slaughter of his prize cow, he accidentally kills a fisherman, he witnesses and experiences firsthand the nightmarish perversion of “justice” practiced by the city’s ruthless occupiers.
Inspired by real people and events, Timbuktu accomplishes what only the greatest of art can: from the atrocities of war and oppression, it distills something luminous, lyrical and poetic. Featuring stunning
cinematography by Sofiane el-Fani, consummate editing by Nadia Ben Rachid, and outstanding performances from its ensemble cast, Timbutku movingly attests to the human will to resist the terrors and injustices of absolutism.
The Trailer:
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