The Global Griot : Sissako's Cinematic Journey
Timbuktu / Timbuktu
Abderrahmane Sissako
Director's bio
Abderrahmane Sissako
Abderrahmane Sissako (born Oct 13, 1961, Kiffa, Mauritania) … Filmography highlights: Life on Earth (1998), Waiting for Happiness (2002), Bamako (2006), Timbuktu (2014), Black Tea (2024). International recognition includes Cannes competition and an Academy Award nomination for Timbuktu.
Synopsis
Near the dunes outside Timbuktu, Kidane and his family attempt to live quietly while jihadist enforcers impose harsh, often hypocritical rules on the city: music is banned, football is forbidden, women’s dress policed. A fatal dispute between Kidane and a fisherman draws the family into the justice machinery, where rigid codes collide with customary mediation. Sissako weaves everyday defiance—a silent soccer game without a ball, covert songs—with scenes of moral ambiguity among the militants themselves. The film elevates ordinary acts to moral testimony, avoiding didacticism in favor of lucid, humane observation. Its spare elegance and layered character work create a resonant indictment of extremism’s absurdity and the costs borne by those simply trying to live.
Details of Cast
Ibrahim Ahmed dit Pino, Toulou Kiki, Abel Jafri, Fatoumata Diawara, Hichem Yacoubi, Kettly Noël, Mehdi Ag Mohamed
Details of Crew
Sofian El Fani — Cinematography, Nadia Ben Rachid — Editor, Monique Dartonne — Editor, François-Xavier Mayol — Production Designer
Producer Details
Sylvie Pialat, Etienne Comar, Rémi Burah, Olivier Père, Benoît Quainon, Gilles Sitbon, Alejandro Arenas
Writer Details
Abderrahmane Sissako; Kessen Tall
Stills
Categories
- International Competition (14)
- Homage (11)
- World Cinema (57)
- Country Focus : Vietnam (5)
- Indian Cinema Now (7)
- Kaleidoscope (8)
- Malayalam Cinema Today (12)
- Restored Classics (5)
- Opening Film (1)
- Special Screening (1)
- Midnight Screening (2)
- Spirit of Cinema (1)
- Signatures In Motion (4)
- Festival Favourites (13)
- Viva el Cine: Latin American Films (5)
- Saeed Mirza Retrospective (3)
- Ritwik Ghatak Centenary (4)
- Youssef Chahine Retrospective (3)
- Garin Nugroho: The Poetic Archipelago (5)
- The Suvarna Legacy : Suvarna Chakoram (17)
- Her Lens Her Voice (5)
- The Pantheon of IFFK: Lifetime (10)
- From Under The Olive Tree (4)
- 50 Years of Rajeevnath (1)
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