Africa Top Success Ils font l'Afrique
Africa was in the spotlight in the last edition of the Cesar. Last Friday in, Paris the Mauritanian, Abderrahman Sissako, won seven over eight Oscars in competition. This coronation of the movie « Timbuktu » is the first of this kind for the African cinema.
As a reminder, the movie by the Mauritanian director draws back the recent past of the historic city of Timbuktoo victim of the invasion of the Jihadists. The city, which melting pot population is reputed for its warm welcome and its historic vestiges, is considered since a few years as the land of the martyrs.
In 2012, during their invasion, the Islamists destroyed the heritages that value the city particularly the last mausoleums of the city classified world heritage by the UNESCO. The film-maker took enormous risks by shooting his movie in the Malian desert where peace is still precarious.
If the Cesars smiled to the African movie, there is less chance for the Mauritanian for the Oscar. In 2014, « Timbuktu« was the only movie competing for the Golden Palm. The work will be in competition this year in Fespaco in the category of « full-length film ».
Born on 13th October 1961 in Kiffa in Mauritania of a Malian father and a Mauritanian mother, Sissako tackles his movies, subjects related to the exile and to the movement of the populations. In 2002, he obtained the International Critics’ Prize at the Cannes film festival with « En Attendant le Bonheur » (Waiting for the Happiness) . He was also a member of the jury for the full-length films of Cannes in 2007.
Original text by: Roger ADZAFO
