Seventeen films will compete for the grand prize at the Ouagadougou Pan-African Film and Television Festival (Fespaco), the largest gathering of African cinema to take place from October 16 to 23 in the capital of Burkina, announced this Thursday, September 9 , the organizers. Initially scheduled for February 27 to March 6, the 2021 edition was pushed back to October due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a second wave of which to hit the country.
Of the 1,132 films submitted, 239 were selected. The official selection includes eight categories, including the official competition, where we find fiction, documentary, animation, short films, school films and TV series.
Seventeen films were selected in the feature-length category to compete for the supreme award, the Yénnenga Gold Standard, indicated the general delegate of Fespaco, Alex Moussa Sawadogo. The prize will be awarded by a jury chaired by Mauritanian director and producer, Abderrahmane Sissako, winner of the César for best film for Timbuktu in 2015.
The directors of the 17 films on display represent 15 African countries. Festival participants will thus discover Air conditioning by Mario Bastos (Angola), Baamum Nafi (Father of Nafi) by Mamadou Dia (Senegal), Bendskins (Moto Taxi) by Narcisse Wandji (Cameroon), Eyimofe (this is my wish) by Chuko Esiri (Nigeria), Goodbye Love Ekwa Msangi (Tanzania), kings night by Philippe Lacôte (Ivory Coast), the three boys by Boubakar Diallo (Burkina Faso), Nameless (the anonymous) of Mutiganda Wa Nkunda (Rwanda), black oliver of Tawfik Baba (Morocco), souad ofAmin Ayten (Egypt), the white line by Desiree Kahikopo-Meiffret (Namibia) or even This is not a burial, it’s a resurrection. of Jeremiah Lemohang Mosese (Lesotho).
They also compete for films presented in the last edition of the Cannes Film Festival, such as Lingui, the sacred bonds by Mahamat Saleh Haroun (Chad), freda by Gessica Genus, Gravedigger’s Wife of Khadar Ahmed (Somalia), feathers by Omar El Zohairy (Egypt) or even A story of love and desire by Leyla Bouzid (Tunisia).
This edition is a “The challenge to show, despite the health situation, that the continent continues to create, to dream, to be able to resist all the evils that destroy our societies”, declared Alex Moussa Sawadogo, delegate general of Fespaco. Senegal is the guest country for this 27th edition.
In a country undermined by jihadist attacks, the Burkinabe government has ensured that a special effort will be made to ensure the safety of the demonstration in Ouagadougou.
