Sarraounia
Alternate title(s):
Foreign Title:
Date: January 01, 1986 to December 31, 1986
Dates Note: 1986
Country of Origin:
Burkina Faso
,
France
,
Mauritania
Place of Origin: Burkina Faso, Mauritania, France
Languages:
Dyula
,
Peul
,
French
Color: Color
Silent: No
Based On: the novel by Abdoulaye Mamani
Additional Info:
with thanks to Aboubakar Sanogo
Curator Notes
Film Series/Exhibition Title:
African Film Festival 2022Description:
Arguably the most uncompromising, anti-colonialist of all African filmmakers, Hondo (Soleil Ô) turned to the brutal real-life history of French African imperialism for his most epic work, Sarraounia. The young queen of Niger’s Aznas, Sarraounia, is acclaimed and feared as a leader, warrior, or even witch, but in 1899 she stands (nearly) alone against the rampaging Voulet-Chanoine Mission, an expeditionary force notorious for its use of rape, torture, and mass slaughter. (Google it.) Filmed amidst Niger’s harsh deserts and brush, Sarraounia is a historical epic made not by Hollywood, but by hand, aiming to bring forgotten atrocities back to life and to honor those who stood in opposition.
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