Yeelen is an innovative screen adaptation of the oral traditions and creation myths of the Bambara people of Mali. The 13th century tale follows a young warrior, Nianankoro, in his quest to wrest knowledge from his father, who will kill him before allowing him to decipher the mysteries of Komo, the secret society that hoards the science of the gods. Nianankoro's heroic journey is also a chase, across arid lands, through cultures and their folklore, and finally through time. "(The film's) innovative narrative style captures the Bambara belief in time as circular, not linear, always returning to that initial 'brightness' which creates the world." (Cornelius Moore) Yeelen's extraordinary visuals have been called "a timeless equivalent of science fiction"; however, "in Cissé's African vision of science fiction, the future lies inevitably in the past." (Manthia Diawara, Library of African Cinema)