In this fresh, lively and entertaining approach to Africa's inherited problems, beautiful young singer Mele (Aissa Maiga) and her husband Chaka (Tiecoura Traore) are divorcing. Accompanying their emotional battle in the dusty courtyard of their home in Bamako, Mali is a bizarre court session where the World Bank and IMF are being sued by the countries of Africa. As eloquent lawyers, judges and witnesses gather to discuss the multiple injustices faced by Africa's population daily life carries on around the court as is the norm in Africa: a couple is married, women dye fabrics, a policeman is on the trail of a crime.
Light relief comes in a mock shoot-out in Timbuktu with filmmaking gunslingers Danny Glover and Elia Suleiman. With subtle mastery Abderrahmane Sissako weaves an entertaining tale that details life in contemporary Africa while managing to explore how Africans feel about their position in an increasingly globalized world.
Most of the footage was shot on the hoof documentary style, including inserts from daily life in Mali's capital and merely carefully edited together to produce probably Africa's strongest candidate for African film of the year. It only asks audiences to insert their brains before buying a ticket. |
