Yeelen aka Brightness
Director: Souleymane Cisse, Mali/Burkina Faso/France/Germany/Japan, 1987, 105 minutes, 35mm A young man sets out to discover the mysteries of nature with the help of his mother and uncle, but his jealous and spiteful father contrives to prevent him from deciphering the elements of the Barbara sacred rites and tries to kill him. Conceivably the greatest African film ever made, sublimely mixing the matter-of-fact with the uncanny, this wondrous work won the jury prize at the 1987 Cannes festival, and it provides an ideal introduction to a filmmaker who is, next to Ousmane Semen, probably Africa's greatest director. Not to be missed. - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader Cisse simply found his performers by wandering through towns and villages. Most of the actors are non-professionals who cannot read; all are remarkable. The film, however, was plagued with a troubled production history. A sandstorm damaged the raw footage, the leading actor died suddenly, the French crew left. But Cisse persevered to create the first unqualified masterpiece of African cinema. - Tomy Rayns, Time Out. Internet Movie Database listing
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