in Burkina Faso, the African cinema festival opens its doors on Saturday adapting to insecurity

It is the first Fespaco since the military took power in Burkina, during two coups in 2022, the first in January, the second in September. Some 10,000 festival-goers are expected on Saturday February 25, according to Haby Ouattara, coordinator of Fespaco (Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou), which is held every two years.

“We are pleasantly surprised, it encourages us and it comforts us“, she adds, while acknowledging that the security situation is in everyone’s mind. According to Haby Ouattara, the fragility of the country linked to jihadist attacks “influenced the organization of the festival“, in particular the security device, which she does not wish to detail.

“Giving access to cinema to people who don’t have it”

The theme of this 28th edition, “African cinema and the culture of peace”, was chosen accordingly, to stick to “news“, she specifies. Several films have “terrorism” as their main subject, such as The messenger of God of the Nigerian Amina Abdoulaye Mamani and Thorns of the Sahel from Burkinabe Boubakar Diallo. “Creators are always influenced by what they see“, explains Haby Ouattara.

And despite the insecurity, the festival has chosen to relocate certain events. Usually, films are shown in different places in the capital and its outskirts, “to give access to the cinema to people who do not have it“This time they will extend to other cities, to people displaced by jihadist violence.”We can’t pretend these people don’t exist. We want to make them dream, allow them to escape“, points out Haby Ouattara. “It’s a first, but we hope it will be the last and that they will no longer watch the films as displaced people.“, she asserts.

Members of the Fespaco organization will join displaced people in Kaya (centre-north) and Dédougou (centre-west), two towns close to localities that have experienced recent attacks. On February 8, two MSF employees were killed on the road between Dédougou and Tougan by armed men, and fifteen people died the same day a few kilometers from Kaya in another attack. Violence linked to jihadist attacks, which have multiplied in recent months, have killed more than 10,000 people in Burkina Faso since 2015, according to NGOs, and around two million displaced people.

Malian cinema in the spotlight

The Mali “symbol of resilience” for the organizers, is the guest of honor of Fespaco 2023. Like Burkina, this neighboring country is targeted by jihadist attacks and led by putschist soldiers. The Fespaco team recalls that several Malian films have been awarded prizes by the past, and that cinema still finds its place in this country, despite the political context.

This year, 170 works were selected in official competition, including fifteen feature-length fiction films in the running for the Yennenga Gold Stallion, a trophy and prize worth 20 million CFA francs (approximately 30,000 euros). This supreme award of the festival bears the name of the founding princess of the kingdom of the Mossis, the majority ethnic group in Burkina Faso.

The jury that will award it will be chaired by Tunisian producer Dora Bouchoucha. Cameroon and Tunisia are the most represented countries, with two films each. The others are from Burkina, Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria, Mozambique, Angola, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco and Algeria. A film from the Dominican Republic was also selected.

On the sidelines of the screenings, are planned, as in each edition, meetings between producers, distributors, directors and broadcasters, support workshops for writing and development, colloquia and debates. This edition will celebrate the centenary of the birth of Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène, an emblematic figure of African cinema who died in 2007. The Fespaco biennial, which will last until March 4, has been presenting films by African directors and the diaspora since 1969.