Sarraounia

Sarraounia
Med Hondo, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, 1986, Color, 120’

This historical film that won in 1987 the Grand Prize at FESPACO Film Festival tells the story of a local resistance movement initiated by a female leader, and reveals one of the darkest episodes of the invasion of Africa by Europeans. In 1899, two young French officers accompanied by a large colonial army proceed toward Central Africa, ravaging everywhere on their way. Their aim is to impede the British venture of invasion. However, when they arrive at the present Nigerian Republic area, people of two villages stop their progress with an unexpected resistance. The solid belief in their leader, in their queen/prophetess (Sarraounia) of this bunch of people, who perpetuate their old traditional practices in an area dominated by Muslims, triumphs over the weapons of Europeans and the fear and terror they instigate. One of the more formally innovative works of the African cinema, this epic film presents intense images that will remain with the audience for a long time.