African cinema's founding father, 81-year-old Ousmane Sembene, continues to be its most fiery, provocative spirit. Extending the strong feminist consciousness that marked his previous triumph Faat Kiné (as well as such earlier classics as Black Girl and Ceddo), Moolaadé is a rousing polemic directed against the stillcommon African practice of female circumcision. The action is set in a small African village, where four young girls facing ritual "purification" flee to the household of Collé Ardo Gallo Sy, a strong-willed woman who has managed to shield her own teenage daughter from mutilation. Collé invokes the time-honored custom of moolaadé (sanctuary) to protect the fugitives, and tension mounts as the ensuing stand-off pits Collé against village traditionalists (both male and female) and endangers the prospective marriage of her daughter to the heir-apparent to the tribal throne. Though the subject matter might seem weighty, this buoyant film is anything but-Sembene places the action amid a colorful, vibrant tapestry of village life and expands the narrative well beyond the bounds of straightforward, socially conscious realism employing an imaginative array of emblematic metaphors, mythic overtones, and musical numbers. Winner of the Grand Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Moolaadé was selected by many prominent critics as the best film of the entire festival.

Directed by Ousmane Sembene

Senegal/France/Burkina Faso/Cameroon/Morocco/Tunisia

2004, 35mm, color, 120 min.

With Fatoumata Coulibaly, Maimouna Héléne Diarra, Salimata Traoré
Bambara and French with English subtitles

Director.......................................... Ousmane Sembene
Screenwriter.................................. Ousmane Sembene Cinematographer............................. Dominique Gentil Sound.............................................. Denis Guilhem
Production Design.............................. Joseph Kpobly Film Editor......................................... Abdellatif Raïss Music................................................. Boncana Maïga

Co-production.......................................Direction de la Cinématographie Nationale (Burkina Faso), Centre Cinématographique Marocain (Morocco), Cinétéléfilms (Tunisia), Les Films de la Terre Africaine (Cameroun)

Executive Prod./France............................. Ciné Sud Promotion

With contribution from................................ De la Commission Européenne: Fonds Européen de Développement, Du Ministère des Affaires Etrangères et du Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, Centre National de la Cinématographie (France): Fonds Sud Cinéma

With participation of.................................... Agences du système des Nations-Unies au Sénégal (UNIFEM, FNUAP, PNUD, UNICEF, OMS), Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation (Switzerland), Church Development Servise-ABPEZEF (Allemagne) Agence Marocaine de la Coopération Internationale (Maroco)

English translation & adaptation...................... Samba Gadjigo

Cast
Collé Ardo Gallo Sy........................................ Fatoumata Coulibaly Hadjatou........................................ Maïmouna Hélène Diarra Amsatou....................................................... Salimata Traoré Mercenaire...................................................... Dominique T. Zeïda Doyenne des exciseuses....................................Mah Compaoré
Alima Ba.......................................................... Aminata Dao

www.NewYorkerFilms.com
Senegal, 2004, 124 minutes,
Color In Jula and French with English subtitles 1.66, Dolby SR


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* WINNER Best Director (2006 | ZIFF 2006 - 9th Zimbabwe International Film Festival
* WINNER: Un Certain Regard Award (Cannes Film Festival, 2004 | CANNES, France)