Gaston Kaboré Movies

Burkina Faso filmmaker Gaston Kabore revisits the characters from his acclaimed 1982 debut Wend Kuuni in this drama with fantasy elements. Wend Kuuni (Serge Yanogo) was the son of a sorceress who was raised by foster parents and grew up to become a respected citizen in his village. But one day his sister Pughneere (Amssatou Maiga) falls ill, and many of his neighbors are convinced Wend's heritage in the black arts are to blame. Wend sets forth on a long and eventful journey to find a healer who can restore his sister to health, and in turn restore his good name. Buud Yam was awarded the Grand Prize at the 1997 Pan African Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

African filmmaker Gaston Kabore portrays the effects of urbanization on traditional village life through the story of a single farmer in his 1988 film Zan Boko. Tinga Yerbanga, a principled, dedicated farmer, resides in a small village inside Burkina Faso with his wife Nopoko and several children. The traditional, deliberately paced life of their village is disrupted when the city of Ouagadougou expands its boundaries. Soon Tinga is in conflict with his new, wealthy neighbors, who object to the close presence of "peasants" and wish to purchase his land to build a swimming pool. When Tinga refuses to give up his homeland, he becomes subject to persecution by the city's government, which openly favors the interests of the rich. This individual conflict threatens to have more wide-ranging effects when Tinga's case is taken up by Yabre, an independent-minded press official who has been repeatedly censured for reporting on government abuse. Kabore's deliberately paced drama contrasts the corruption and duplicity of the leaders of African's urban society with the integrity of the poorer country dwellers, focusing much of the film on a detailed, respectful portrait of the traditions and beliefs of village life. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

The mystery of a mute child lies at the center of African filmmaker Gaston Kabore's 1982 film Wend Kuuni (God's Gift), a fable-like drama set amongst the traditional villages of Burkina Faso in the days before industrialization. Discovering the child in an uninhabited area, a traveling peddler takes the young boy to the closest village. Though they do not recognize the boy, a local family chooses to shelter the child while the village chief seeks out the boy's parents. When this search is unsuccessful, the family chooses to adopt the boy, naming him Wend Kuuni -- "God's gift." He soon becomes part of the family, going to work in the fields as a shepherd and becoming friends with a young girl, Pongere. This idyll is disturbed, however, by tensions amongst one of the village families, as the increasingly violent conflict between a woman and her older husband help bring back memories of Wend Kuuni's past, including the tragic story of why he had been forced to leave his home village. Kabore uses his basic, archetypal tale to present an affectionate yet not idealized view of Africa's past and people. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi