Finye

The Wind

Screening in tribute to Malian director Souleymane Cissé, who died in February, his moving drama tells a story of love and the generation gap in post-colonial Mali.

Introduced by Keith Shiri, film curator and founder/director of Africa at the Pictures

  • Director

    Souleymane Cissé

  • With

    Fousseyni Sissoko, Goundo Guissé, Balla Moussa Keita

  • Mali 1982. 100min

  • 35mm

  • English subtitles

Winner of the coveted Etalon de Yennega prize at the FESPACO festival in 1983, Souleymane Cissé’s feature wraps its clear-eyed satire of the injustices of post-colonial Mali inside an achingly tender love story. Taking its cue from Romeo and Juliet, the film concerns teenagers in love Bah and Batrou. Bah is the descendent of a long-established tribal chief, Batrou the daughter of a provincial military governor who represents the new ruling powers. Both families have their reasons for rejecting the union, but Bah and Batrou are members of a politicised generation who reject both branches of repressive authority – ancient and modern. Cissé’s beautifully shot film screens from a rare 35mm print that reveals its long life in scratches at reel changes, but whose colour remains as vivid as its characters.

James Bell

Access information

A printed transcript of the curator’s introduction to this screening will be available on entry to the screen.