Over the course of a few days, a trial pitting African civil society against such international financial institutions as the World Bank and the IMF has set a stage in the courtyard of a home in Bamako, Mali. The trial’s examination of Africa’s debt to the World Bank, which threatens Africa’s sovereignty and continues to alienate and deprive her people, provides a surreal contrast to the everyday life shared by families whose homes surround the courtyard. As numerous trial witnesses (schoolteachers, farmers, writers, etc…) air bracing indictments against the multinational economic machinery that haunts them, life in the courtyard presses forward. Chaka, an unemployed married father, is preoccupied with the imminent break up of his marriage to Melé, a popular Bamako lounge singer. He is being harassed by a detective who accuses him of stealing a gun. In the midst of the powerful testimonies being made at the trial, the juxtaposition of Chake and Melé’s story, as well as those of their neighbours, give a voice to Africa’s silent majority and further fortifies Africa’s case against the World Bank. Filled with warm colors and inspirational music, Bamako voices Africa’s grievances in an original and profoundly moving way: educating, and at the same time, entertaining the audience.
FRIDAY 4/10- at 6:30 pm as part of the Tournees French Film Festival at the Colorado Film School.
Persepolis is the poignant story of a young girl coming of age in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of this precocious nine year old, Marjane, that we see a people's hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power - forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the “social guardians” and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is executed and bombs fall around Tehran, during the Iraq/Iran war, the daily fear that permeates life in Tehran is palpable. As she gets older, her parents worry for her safety and decide to send her to school in Vienna when she turns fourteen. Vulnerable and alone in a strange land, Marjane endures the typical ordeals of a teenager. She also has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism she is trying to escape. Over time she finds acceptance and even love but remains terribly homesick. Marjane decides to return to Iran to be close to her family. After a difficult period of adaptation, she enters art school and gets married, all the while continuing to speak against the hypocrisy she witnesses. At age 24 she realizes that although she loves her country she cannot live there anymore and she decided to leave for France.
No comments:
Post a Comment