Discoveries from Mali World Cinema

A young man with magical powers journeys to his uncle to request help in fighting his sorcerer father.

Chaos ensues shortly after a young man in a remote village in northern Senegal refuses to accept his role as the new village chief.

Caught in the stranglehold of debt and structural adjustment, Africa is fighting for its survival. In the face of disaster, representatives of African society bring an action against international financial institutions. The trial takes place in Bamako, in the yard of a house, among its inhabitants.

Malian-French director Daouda Coulibaly's auspicious debut is a pulse-pounding political thriller. Wùlu tells the unsettling tale of a man's rise from the bottom rung of the social ladder to the heights of criminal power.

Beginning in South Africa under the apartheid regime, the film follows a young girl who flees the country after a violent confrontation with a local white landowner in which her father is killed. She settles in Abidjan, where, ten years later, she has become a university student. As part of her studies, she visits the Taureg tribe on the edge of the Sahara before at last returning to post-Apartheid South Africa.

Keïta’s family and other witnesses to his remarkable career share their memories of the photographer and his studio, which he ran from 1948 to 1962. Against the backdrop of Bamako, whose citizens Keïta lovingly immortalized, the film grants rare insight into the artist’s practice and speaks to his photographs’ power as a record of the nation.

The plight of small-scale farmers in Africa and Asia forced off their land by an unprecedented corporate land grab. If they refuse they are subject to horrific violence, which has led to women miscarrying and deaths. Exploring the personal stories of those affected, this documentary gives a voice to threatened subsistence farmers throughout the developing world. If your livelihood was ripped away from you, how would you cope?

Fatou Cissé accompanies her father, malien director Souleymane Cissé, through a trip down his film career, painting an intimate and poetic picture of one of Africa’s most celebrated actors.

1968: Justin Ohounou is the Minister of the Interior Department. He is involved in scheming with a corrupt business man. His goal is to eliminate by all means his political enemy Christian Adegbe and all of the Adegbe Tribe.

A profile of Boubacar Traore, "Mali's Elvis Presley", a love story told by a singer whose music takes us on a social, political and geographic voyage of Mali from 1960 to our days.

Acclaimed artist Abdou Ouologuem delves into the legend and legacy of the richest person in the history of the world, the 14th century Malian king Mansa Musa, who has been almost entirely wiped from recorded history.

"Demain à Nanguila" follows Moussa, a young man who leaves his village for Bamako in search of opportunity but instead encounters hardship and disillusionment. His return home becomes a reflection on rural exodus, tradition, and the challenges facing Mali in the early years of independence.

This ethnographic short portrays a ritual using masks among the Dogon people of Mali.

The story of Aphrodite from her birth and her relationship with the other gods of Greek mythology.

A young brother and sister try to balance school and their menial jobs in order to be able to continue their education and so that their impoverished family can make ends meet.

Are tourists destroying the planet-or saving it? How do travelers change the remote places they visit, and how are they changed? From the Bolivian jungle to the party beaches of Thailand, and from the deserts of Timbuktu, Mali to the breathtaking beauty of Bhutan, GRINGO TRAILS traces stories over 30 years to show the dramatic long-term impact of tourism on cultures, economies, and the environment.

A group of woman in a Malian village find a mystical mask. Using the mask, they reverse gender roles, women act like men, and men act like women.

Happy are those who, like Sekou, have had a great journey. A storyteller like his parents, he perfects his apprenticeship on a pilmigrage through West Africa before returning home. The journey puts his vocation to the test and examines the need for this ancient art in modern society. Throughout his odyssey, the ancient legend of Sundiata accompanies and guides him.

Shocked by French président Nicolas Sarkozy’s claim that the African man has no history, filmmaker Cheikh N’diaye sets out to prove his royal heritage – tracing his grandfather’s path from Mauritania to Senegal, homeland of his warrior ancestors.

Ramatoulaye, a 50-year-old teacher, has been married to lawyer Modou Fall for 25 years. The couple is very close and happy. When her husband takes a second wife – her daughter's best friend – a struggle between tradition and modernity begins.

Passionate sculptor Makan discovers he just won the lottery. This marks the start of a long chase in the streets of Bamako to search the coveted ticket. However, he misses the most important: the beautiful Sira has come to his house to read to her father...

Meeting of two greats, Cissé's tribute to the dean of African cinema is without discours, without pathos. It is the one returned by his mini camera, which attends the funeral ceremonies that marked the departure of Ousmane Sembene in Dakar, and finds the relatives of Sembene in the house he had built in Yoff, directly on rocks beaten by the ocean. These simple and close images, with a distance from the ceremonial that Sembene would have appreciated, those briefly borrowed from his films and archives, weave a film full of friendship and fraternity.

Echagh (The Well) is a research film on a Tuareg Fraction called Igorareine. They live in a locality called Echgah situated to 40 km in the northest from Gao, nothern Mali. They basically look after sheep, goats, camels, cattle, and have been practising a nomadic life for generations. Nowadays, some of them are about to leave this ancestral way of life due to many loss of animals caused by the desertification of the Sahara. That is how they settled in the surrounding of a colonial well, called Echgh in 1988. A decade later, they created a primary school for their children. Since then, they are thinking about another way of life. But it should be noticed that this newly introduced school system is subject of many interpretations in Echagh. Some of them believes in other opportunities that school may bring about. In contrast others see it as a device which threatens their traditional way of life. Within such a divergent context, the film explores the life choices of three kids.

The wise masters tell the King of Ségou of the birth of a boy constituting a threat to his power. In Macina, not far from Ségou, Fatoumata consults the witch doctor...

The Bozo of Mali are people of the water. For generations, they have lived along the banks of the Niger river, fishing for their livelihood. But climate change and drought have brought lower water levels and fewer fish - driving young Bozo men to leave their villages in search of work. Gala is one of these men. Like many young Bozo, he has moved to the capital, Bamako, and works as a sand fisher - dredging up sand and gravel by hand from the river's banks and bottom, and using large wooden pirogues to ferry it ashore. Here, it will be loaded into trucks and used for bricks, concrete mix and tiling - all to feed the construction boom in the country's largest city.

In the busy streets of Bamako, a young woman, about 25 years old, repairs generators. Engaged to be married, Ra does "a man's job" and supervises a crew of teenage boys. Ra gives much importance to social relationships - she participates in the Tontines organized by the young woman of her district and wrecked generators from her shop are recovered and transformed into crockery and kitchen utensils. On Ra's wedding day, the presents given to her include gifts made from her recovered generators.

A child with albinism is often regarded in traditional societies as a curse on their family. Salif Keita, born from a noble lineage of Mali, lived in exclusion during his childhood. It is music that saved him. This film portrays Salif Keita, the man and musician. We follow him with his family, in the places of his childhood and during his concerts in Mali and in France.

When an elderly man reveals that his son Hammala is the illegitimate son of a purported witch, the ugly side of social customs rears its head. Shunned by the community, an ashamed Hammala leaves the village, only to return four years later, despite his outcast status.

So Kou gives an insight into the history of an ancient instrument and a master player who contributed at making it better known to the world. The sensation of a strong symbiosis between the master and the So Kou emerges, casting a feeling of purity and sincerity.

This powerful social drama from director Fatou Cissé, daughter of legendary Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé, explores the impact of forced marriage on young women in Mali. The film follows Tou, who is pressured to marry an older man after becoming pregnant, and Ami, who resists village pressure to wed in favor of her independence. Through these parallel stories, Furu examines the complex and often painful choices young women face when their futures are shaped by tradition rather than personal agency. The film confronts the enduring practice of forced marriage and its psychological consequences, offering a poignant and urgent reflection on gender, autonomy, and resistance within a patriarchal society.

Kempinski is a mystical and animist place. People emerge from the dark, holding fluorescent lamps; they speak about a magical world. “Today we have a space station. We will launch space ships and a few satellites soon that will allow us to have much more information about the other stations and other stars.” Their testimonies spark confusion and contradiction: a second reading is necessary to fully understand what is going on in this unique blend of fiction (sci-fi) and ‘real’ documentary. The scenario of ‘Kempinski’, filmed in various towns in Mali, is defined by specific rules: interviewed people imagine the future and speak about it in the present tense. Their hopeful, poetic and spiritual stories and fantasies are recorded and edited in a melod…

"Cinq jours d’une vie" is about a young man, N'Tji, orphaned at an early age, who lives under the supervision of his uncle. He is sent to Koranic school, where he is forced to memorize and recite verses of the Koran; soon, N’Tji escapes and begins to craft his own destiny. Unfortunately, he is found and thrown in prison, and must live with the implications upon release. In this film, Cissé explores the institution of the Koranic school and its detrimental effects on young people’s autonomy and ability to explore their futures.

This film follows Maria Esther, Jose Agrippino's partner, as she falls into a trance; the film takes place in the day-to-day setting of a room looking out over the beach and over the roofs of a house in North Africa.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb…Daesh…Boko Haram.** So many extremist movements, of which Africa has become a breeding ground, have declared war against Western values and people. Beyond the misunderstandings that often paralyze us, we have to ask ourselves the real question: **how did we get here?** Filmed in Mali, *RETURN TO BAMAKO* is a deep dive into the land of Islam, seeking to understand the causes and challenges of the threat posed by the rise of radical Islamism to all societies. The Islamist wave did not come about accidentally, but instead is the result of recent history, of which Westerners are the actors, because in the vast majority of cases, it is the failure of a political and economic system, copied or imposed by the West, along with unbridled globalization, which opens a gaping hole and allows the rise of extremism.

In 2012, jihadists took control of northern Mali. They imposed one of the strictest interpretations of sharia law in history. On August 12th they banned music - radio stations destroyed, instruments burned and musicians facing torture, even death. Overnight, Mali’s most revered members of society – the musicians – were forced into hiding or exile. This film follows Mali’s musicians as they fight to keep music alive in their country. We witness fierce battles between the army and the jihadists, capture life over borders at refugee camps where money and hope are scarce, follow perilous journeys home to war ravaged cities, and for one band, Songhoy Blues, their path to international stardom.

The story of a young student, lost in her hometown and alienated from her own traditions. After experiencing situations that made her feel powerless and unable to express herself about her roots, she decides to embark on a journey to rediscover her heritage and reconnect with her origins. This personal quest leads her to meaningful encounters and a profound reevaluation of her identity.

In Mali's Dadougou region, the secretive Kɔtɛ (kote) initiation rite is held every seven years or after a village chief's death, forming part of the NYA and DO societies. While the rituals remain undisclosed, public festivities include symbolic fights where torchbearers and defenders clash in staged confrontations.

Swiss archaeologist Eric Huysecom and cameraman Bernard Augustoni work with 13 master smelters to recreate the building of a traditional furnace for smelting iron in Mali. There has not been any traditional iron smelting in Africa since the 1960's, in part due to the importing of cheaper substitutes. The building of the furnaces and the work involved in the actual production is deeply entwined with ritual, symbolism and gender. This film describes in great detail every aspect of the event, from the selection of the site of the reconstruction - which is the oldest remaining furnace site in the region, last active in 1961 - to the final result.

On the Jos Plateau in Nigeria, the British mined tin and columbite which sustained local generations until the end of the 20th century. Mining is now an artisanal activity. Karimah Ashadu portrays the harshness of manual labour while questioning the harm caused by the uncontrolled extraction of natural resources.

Director Hawa Aliou N'Diaye explores Malian tradition, myth, and the ethereal through interviews with women who-like her-claim to be possessed by enigmatic spirits known as jinn.

This film highlights the ongoing transformation of the Malian society moving into the era of modernity and globalisation. It portrays a Malian woman named Mrs.Kebe Tantou(one example taken for many) running her own enterprise. Mrs. Kebe Tantou’s business consists of dyeing clothes made of “basin” and selling them in Bamako(Mali), and everywhere in the world. She has got clients in Africa, France, the United Arab Emirats and in the USA. In a wide range of scenes, Mrs.Kebe Tantou is shown the main actress around whom several other actors and actresses are rotating. Mrs.Kebe Tantou symbolises the independence of the Malian wives, and the Malian women entrepreneurs.

Hailstone is a “condensation” of images from 2020 in Super 8 film. The work, composed of moments lived or seen through screens—such as video calls, Instagram Live footage, home videos, and TV broadcasts—solidifies a piece of the collective memory of the year of the pandemic.

The Bamako Express takes more than 36 hours to connect Dakar to Bamako, about 1200 kilometers. During this crossing from West to East, multiple images of the African continent, legendary places, great rivers, arid landscapes, pass before the eyes of travellers, while the train itself appears as the center of incessant activity: cohabitation between Malians and Senegalese who live, sleep and trade together.

The Principal’s Fight examines the case of Community School, Sector II, Sabalibougou and the struggles of Negueting Traore and his fellow teachers to keep in functioning. We meet various government officials who emphasise the importance of community schools to the nation without being able to guarantee sufficient support to keep Sector II viable. Along the way we see something of the home life of Principal Traore and his wife – who also teaches at the school – and we come to realise that they have a fight on their hands just to keep their own family viable.

Djeneba is a mother of nine children living in Kadioloko, southern Mali. Since her husband left the family some years ago Djeneba and her children manage the family’s millet fields without him. Recently the eldest boy, Madou, has brought his new wife, Lidy, into the family group. In this film we explore daily life in the compound as Djeneba assumes full responsibility for her family’s needs. Filmmaker, Bata Diallo, herself a Malian, engages Djeneba’s life-world in observational style and by way of intimate conversations. As well as the family we meet Nono, the old chief of Kadioloko. He’s a good friend of Djeneba and a renowned local philosopher with a wry world-view and a sense of humour to match. Djeneba and her family are from the agriculturalist Minyaka ethnic group but we also get to know some Fulani pastoralists who share the village of Kadioloko. “Djeneba” is an hour-long chronicle of quotidian life in rural Mali from a woman’s point of view.

This film tells with verve and a touch of self-irony the history of research on the Dogon since the famous 1931 expedition of Marcel Griaule. The film establishes the original expedition in the context of French anthropology at the time. Jean Rouch, celebrated filmmaker and less known as an anthropologist on the Dogon, narrates part of the story, and interviews Dogon elders and veteran expedition-member, Germaine Dieterlen.