AfricAvenir Windhoek: “Finyé – The Wind” by Souleymane Cissé

On 26 February 2011 at 19h00 AfricAvenir Windhoek in the framework of the monthly film series "African Perspectives" presents the movie “Finyé – The Wind” by Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé. A short interview with Souleymane Cissé will be screened before the film. Studio 77, Entrance 20,- N$.nIn cooperation with Studio 77, Bank Windhoek Arts Festival, WhatsOnWindhoek, and the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre.

Date: 26 February 2011
Time: 19h00
Venue: Studio 77, Old Breweries Complex, entrance via Garten Str.
Entrance: 20,- N$

About the film
Finyé is one of the finest and densest movies made on the African continent. Finyé tackles the friction between tradition and modernity in African society. The film is centered around a love affair between two university students with very different backgrounds. The father of one is a traditional chief and that of the other a military governor. The students join a mass protest against the falsification of exam results and are later supported by the chief who renounces his power and allies himself with the youth. Meanwhile the military governor, whose authoritarianism bears some similarities to Moussa Traoré’s politics as ruler of Mali from 1968 to 1991, remains firm in his defense of the government. In the end, Cissé succeeds in illustrating the power of mass protests against the government. Finyé offers a complex reflection on African culture and politics, combining scenes of everyday life with dreamlike sequences or magic rituals.

Director’s Comment
"In the life of every human being there are always moments when you have to pause in order to find out what has been done and what still remains to be done. Finyé poses this twofold question."nAwardsn

• Grand Prize – Etalon de Yennega (FESPACO)
• Tanit d’or au Festival de Carthage (Tunisia)
• Certain Regard Section (Cannes)

nAbout Cissé
The 1940 born Souleymane Cissé is a Malian filmmaker and was, next to Ousmane Sembene, the most recognized African filmmaker of the twentieth century. nDuring his adolescence he lived in Dakar, Senegal. After his return to Mali in 1960 from secondary studies in Dakar, his passion for films developed into his life vocation. He obtained a scholarship and went to the VGIK in Moscow (State Institute of Cinema) where he was a projectionist before pursuing film-making.
In 1970, he became a camera operator for the Malian Ministry of Information. Two years later, he directed Five Days in a Life, which received a prize at the Carthage Film Festival. Two of his movies Baara (Work) and Finyé (The Wind) received the Etalon de Yenenga prize at FESPACO. Yeelen (Light) and its 1987 Cannes Jury Award revealed Souleymane Cissé to the main audience. nA dedicated film-maker, Souleymane Cissé is the President of the Union of West African Cinema and Audiovisual Designers and Entrepreneurs (UCECAO). In recognition of his work, he was made a Commandeur de l’Ordre National of Mali in 2006 and Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres of France. His latest film, Min Ye premiered at Cannes 2009.