In Burkina Faso, presidents, military leaders, or crises may come and go, but the Fespaco stays the same.
The biggest film festival in Africa began on Saturday as the country battles a jihadist insurgency. Approximately 15,000 people, including celebrities from Nigerian film, are anticipated.
an object of the festival director’s pride.
“It’s a form of resilience and resistance for the Burkinabe, for the filmmakers,” Alex Moussa Sawadogo revealed.
“More importantly, we can meet at a critical time of Burkina history as this year’s theme Culture of Peace is very important because today the issue of peace is not only political or military, but it concerns everybody, the artists, the filmmakers, the producers. …”
African-produced works
To compete, 100 films from 35 different African nations and the diaspora were shortlisted.
One of them is “Sira,” which is a front-runner in the current competition. The film, directed by Burkinabe Apolline Traore, depicts a woman’s struggle for survival after she is abducted by jihadists in the Sahel.
“Right after we had one of the biggest massacres in our country a couple of years ago in Yirgou, it was so shocking to me actually, because I know that we never had such a thing in Burkina Faso,” she says.
“And as an artist as a filmmaker, we need to use our art to share what we are feeling, and this is exactly what I did.”
Government officials say they have ramped up security for this year’s edition. Since its launch in 1969, biennial film festival FESPACO has never been cancelled
” Holding the festival matters to us because it is very, very important for social cohesion. It’s important to meet and talk about movies around a poulet byciclette dish, a good bissap or gnamakou. During two weeks, everybody is on cloud nine, everybody’s going to see movies, people meet again, the Burkinabe don’t feel abandoned.”
The 11 categories in which the films shortlisted compete include short films, documentaries, TV series, and animation.
This year’s fiction contestants are directed by nearly half women.
Through March 4th, the Ouagadougou Pan-African Film and Television Festival will be held.
