ADELINE GREGOIRE
FILMS | African Classics
May 21st - 22nd 2019 | 7:00pm
The UWI Film Programme Studio | FREE
Ode to Ouédraogo: Reaching Back to Go Forward
A tribute to one of the illustrious names of African cinema, Burkinabe filmmaker - Idrissa Ouédraogo.
A rebellious figure in his youth, having been expelled from the University of Ouagadougou for co-leading a student strike action in the late 1970s, Ouédraogo would go on to join the now defunct INAFEC film school, which trained many of the major names of Burkinabe cinema. After a one-year stay in Kiev, Ukraine, he spent the early 80s attending the prestigious French film school IDHEC (now La Fémis), graduating in 1985. He would go on to direct numerous features, many of which would win prestigious awards including the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes and Yennenga Stallion at FESPACO for Tilaï, and the Silver Tanit at Carthage and Silver Bear at the Berlinale for Samba Traoré.
He sought to champion the marginalized people and cultures in his films, he understood his responsibility as a filmmaker to the people of Africa and he offered beautiful poetic films from Burkina Faso to the world.
We are delighted to be featuring in our AFTT Classics series two of Idrissa Ouédraogo's most celebrated films, Tilai and Yaaba. Two nights of great classic cinema at The UWI Film Programme Studio - May 21 and 22 at 7:00pm.
Africa Film Trinidad & Tobago proudly presents our African Classics in association with The UWI Film Programme. This series reveals some of the legacy of Africa's colonial past and highlights the creative resilience of its storytellers. It gives us a starting point..
Yaaba
7:00PM The UWI Film Programme Studio
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Idrissa Ouédraogo | Burkina Faso | 1989 | '90 | 14+
In a small African village, elderly Sana (Fatimata Sanga) is ostracized, but 10-year-old Bila (Noufou Ouedraogo) doesn't think she's a witch like everyone else. He even calls her Yaaba, which means grandmother. After Bila's cousin, Nopoko (Roukietou Barry), becomes deathly ill and Sana saves her, Bila comes to Sana's defense when the village medicine man accuses her of taking Nopoko's soul. It isn't until after Sana's death that the real reason behind the village's hatred comes to light.
Tilai
7:00PM The UWI Film Programme Studio
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Idrissa Ouédraogo | Burkina Faso | 1990 | '81 | PG13
Set in Burkina Faso before the French colonized the region, this film chronicles the plight of Saga (Rasmane Ouedraogo), who returns to his family's village and discovers that the woman he was in love with, Nogma (Ina Cissé), has married his father. This doesn't prevent the couple from seeing each other again, however. But when it's discovered that Saga and Nogma have slept together -- which the law considers incest -- Saga's brother Kougri (Assane Ouedraogo) is ordered to kill him.
Festivals & Awards:
Grand Jury Prize - Cannes 1990
Yennenga Stallion - FESPACO 1990