The titular location of Abderrahmane Sissako’s (Bamako) haunting new film has for many years been synonymous with mystery and intrigue; an almost mythical city and a modern metaphor for a faraway place. Sissako quickly dispels this myth with this hard-hitting and moving portrayal of its recent reality.
Set in the early days of the jihadist takeover of Northern Mali in 2012, the once bustling city is now near-silent, kept in order by soldiers who patrol the winding streets, employing their strict rules and swift justice to anyone who contravenes their law.
The film’s narrative weaves between small but significant stories: a woman refuses to cover her feet as she sells from a street stall, a local iman confronts the extremists calmly in his mosque – but at the centre of the story is Kidane, a local shepherd, who lives freely outside of the city in the desert with his wife and two children.
When his son loses one of his cattle crossing the river, a chain of events are set in motion that sees Kidane face the fundamentalists’ interpretation of sharia law.
