With Timbuktu, director and co-writer Abderrahmane Sissako has created a film to test our understanding of what words such as "terrorist", "jihadist" and "Islamic extremists" mean as much as what they don't mean, offering a glimpse into a world I could never say I understand or even comprehend. Sissako's level of empathy for his characters is what gives the film its weight, opening your eyes as you just might find your morals tested in ways you couldn't have expected. Set during the takeover of the titular Malian city by self-described jihadists in 2012, the film is both horrifying and beautiful, managing to even merge dread with small doses of humor as a group of young people play soccer in a dusty field, but must halt their game so a donkey can pass through. The dread in this instance is far more lasting, coming from the fact they are playing without a ball.
- 2/20/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Of this year's five Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Language feature I've seen three of them -- Ida, Leviathan and Wild Tales -- and while Ida is the perceived front-runner this is a category that can always offer a bit of a surprise, one such surprise just might be Abderrahmane Sissako's Timbuktu, which Cohen Media will begin distributing on January 28 (find theaters here) and have just released the first official domestic trailer. Here's the synopsis: Not far from the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu, now ruled by the religious fundamentalists, proud cattle herder Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino) lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed), and Issan (Mehdi Ag Mohamed), their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned.
- 1/28/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
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