Yaaba
| Yaaba | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Idrissa Ouedraogo |
| Written by | Idrissa Ouedraogo |
| Screenplay by | Idrissa Ouédraogo |
| Produced by | Arcadia Films, Les Films de l'avenir, Télévision suisse romande, Thelma Film AG |
| Starring | , , Roukietou Barry, Adama Ouedraogo, Amadé Tour |
| Cinematography | |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | Francis Bebey |
| Distributed by | New Yorker Films (U.S.) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Countries | Burkina Faso Switzerland France |
| Language | Mòoré |
| Box office | $55,000 |
Yaaba is a 1989 Burkinabé drama film written, produced, and directed by Idrissa Ouedraogo, "one of the best known films from francophone sub-Saharan Africa".[1] It won the Sakura Gold prize at the 1989 Tokyo Film Festival.[2] The film was selected as the Burkinabé entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[3]
The film was the subject of a short documentary Parlons Grand-mère, which was shot during the film's production by Djibril Diop Mambéty.
Plot[]
In a Mossi village in Burkina Faso, Bila (Noufou Ouédraogo), a ten-year-old boy, makes friends with an old woman called Sana (Fatimata Sanga), who has been accused of witchcraft by her village, and has become a social outcast. Only Bila is respectful of her, and calls her yaaba (Grandmother).
When Bila's cousin, Nopoko (Roukietou Barry), falls ill, a medicine man insists that Sana has stolen the girl's soul. Sana undergoes a long and gruelling but ultimately successful journey to find a medicine to save Nopoko's life, but is still treated as a witch.
After Sana dies, the real reason why she is hated in the village is uncovered, but the love and wisdom she invested in Bila and Nopoko lives on.
Awards[]
- FIPRESCI Prize (Cannes, 1989)
See also[]
- List of submissions to the 62nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Sub-Saharan African submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References[]
- ^ Teresa Hoefert de Turégano (2004). African Cinema and Europe: Close-up on Burkina Faso. European Press Academic Pub. pp. 175–180. ISBN 978-88-8398-031-2.
- ^ "Tokyo film festival gives big cash awards". chron.com. Retrieved 2011-08-23.
- ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
External links[]
- Yaaba at IMDb
- Yaaba at AllMovie
- Cinema Then, Cinema Now: Yaaba a 1994 discussion of the film hosted by Jerry Carlson of CUNY TV
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- 1989 films
- Burkinabé films
- 1989 drama films
- Films directed by Idrissa Ouedraogo
- Films set in Burkina Faso
- More-language films
- Burkinabé independent films
- French films
- French independent films
- Swiss films
- Swiss independent films
- Films set in pre-colonial sub-Saharan Africa
- 1989 independent films
- Burkinabé drama films
- Independent drama film stubs
- African film stubs
- Burkina Faso stubs