A Chat With Abderrahmane Sissako…

Africa’s seclusion at the bottom of the global ladder is epitomised by its cinema - undervalued, disregarded, tucked away. It is thus commendable that Abderrahmane Sissako’s latest film BAMAKO emerges so quietly from the ashes. His characters, many of whom play themselves, seek not vengeance but understanding and co-operation. FilmExposed’s Joey Bastick-Vines went to meet him…

It is clear after spending time in his company that the director’s temperament is very much in tune with his film’s tone – tender, eloquent, honest. “I would like people to understand what happens in this continent. When they talk of Africa, a lot of things are simplified. I would like people to understand we cannot have a balanced world while one side is getting poorer and poorer. The world needs to share.”

This notion of balance and sharing is curiously realised in ‘Death in Timbuktu’, a stand-alone western segment plonked in the middle of the courtyard trials. Whilst Sissako admits it was a hoot playing cowboys with some of his closest acting buddies, namely Danny Glover, Elia Suleiman and Zeka Laplaine, he is keen to stress the importance of its meaning. “For me the western is not just a game. It highlights the important concept of co-responsibility, a notion which runs through the film. The Africans also have their share of responsibility. That’s why the black guys are the bad guys. It’s not only one world against another.”

Perhaps Danny Glover’s brief cameo as a pantomime cowboy will enhance the films’ commercial value but his inclusion is by no means a cheap advertising ploy. “Danny Glover is an activist,” Sissako reveals, “he’s an ambassador at UNICEF. He discovered my films.”

The majority of BAMAKO unfurls in the courtyard of the house that Sissako grew up in as a child. Many of the film’s characters are ‘real’ including the lawyers and the judges. The witnesses are a mix of real and non-real actors. Most represent an amalgamation of the two. One such character is Zegue Bamba, an aging gentleman who comes to the stage and roars a painful (un-subtitled) lament. “Zegue Bamba is a character I wrote in my casting. The fact he sings was partly due to do with the cinematographic style. But when he started singing something inside came out of him and everyone watched. Not only the audience that we were filming but everybody around, the technicians, the sound people, everyone. But no one really understood what he was saying because it is a minority language.”

Sissako hopes Bamako will reach a large audience and mark a new dawn in African cinema. “It’s very important, not only for my film but also the possibility to do different kinds of films. I’m obliged to interest myself in the future of my continent. Of course the film is not 100% truth. It is an effort to show a certain point of view but if it is seen by people who are not interested in Africa then it’s very important.”

So what next for this emerging force in African cinema? “I am working on a cross-dialogue piece about three former African presidents. I am also thinking about doing a fiction film based in China.” Whichever project Sissako undertakes, it is likely that it will be invested with the same refreshing honesty that illuminates Bamako. As he says: “This is reality. I only hope people will listen.”

Joey Bastick-Vines