LTunisian director Youssef Chebbi triumphed this Saturday, March 4, in Ouagadougou, by winning the supreme award from Fespaco, the largest African film festival. The young director born in Tunis in 1984 won the Yennenga Gold Stallion for his film Ashkal. Welcoming “extreme rigor” and “work that is out of the ordinary”, the president of the jury, the Tunisian Dora Bouchoucha, specified that the Gold Stallion had been awarded to Mr. Chebbi unanimously.
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Tunisian triumph
In this thriller set in the Jardins de Carthage in Tunis, a neighborhood abandoned after the fall of President Ben Ali in 2011, two police officers investigate mysterious immolations. “It’s a detective story, but in fact it’s about the Tunisian people,” explained Dora Bouchoucha.
Selected for the fortnight of directors at the Cannes Film Festival in France, Ashkal also won the Antigone d’or, the highest award at the Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival (south-eastern France) in 2022.
The Tunisian director is ahead of two women, the Burkinabé Apolline Traoré for Sirawho receives the Silver Stallion, and the Kenyan Angela Wamai for The pit, awarded the Bronze Stallion. Since its creation in 1969, no woman has won the supreme award of this great African film festival. 170 works were in the running in various categories for this edition on the theme “African cinema and culture of peace”.
The male and female interpretation return to all the actors and actresses of under the figsby Tunisian director Erige Sehiri.
Tunisia therefore triumphs in this festival of African cinema, at a time when hundreds of nationals from sub-Saharan Africa are fleeing the country because of attacks and demonstrations of hostility following a violent charge by President Kaïs Saïed against the irregular migrants.
The best screenplay was awarded to Caftan Blueby the Moroccan Maryam Touzani.
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A cultural parenthesis
Fifteen fiction feature films vied for the supreme reward, the Yennenga Gold Stallion, a prize worth 20 million CFA francs (about 30,000 euros). This 28e edition of the festival was held in a very heavy security context in Burkina, shaken by jihadist violence for several years. Security devices, gates, excavations, armed soldiers and police were put in place in front of the various places of the festival, which welcomed 20,000 guests, according to the organization.
Despite this context, screenings took place with people displaced by jihadist attacks, in Kaya (Centre-Nord) and Dédougou (Centre-Ouest). The attacks, which mainly affect the northern half of the country, have not ceased. Last Sunday, the town of Partiaga (Northeast) was attacked by jihadists, killing several residents, according to local sources. No official report has been communicated.
Burkina Faso has experienced an intensification of violence by groups linked to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State since the beginning of the year, with several dozen deaths – civilians or soldiers – almost every week. The violence has claimed more than 10,000 lives since 2015 – civilians and soldiers – according to NGOs, and some two million displaced. The next edition of Fespaco is scheduled to take place from February 22 to 1is mars 2025.
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Complete list of Fespaco
Here is the winners of the 28e edition of the Ouagadougou Pan-African Film and Television Festival (Fespaco), the largest African film festival, which ended on Saturday:
FICTION FEATURE
– Yennenga gold standard: “Ashkal” by Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia)
– Silver standard: “Sira”, by Apolline Traoré (Burkina Faso)
– Bronze standard: “Shimoni” by Angela Wamai (Kenya)
– Prize for male interpretation: all the actors of “Sous les figs” by Erige Sehiri (Tunisia)
– Prize for female interpretation: all the actresses of “Sous les figs” by Erige Sehiri (Tunisia)
– Best decor: “Mami Wata” by Fiery Obasi (Nigeria)
– Best Editing: “Abu Saddam” by Nadine Khan (Egypt)
– Best screenplay: “Le Bleu du caftan” by Maryam Touzani (Morocco)
– Image Prize: “Mami Wata” by Fiery Obasi (Nigeria)
– Sound award: “Ashkal” by Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia)
– Best Music: “Our Lady of the Chinese Shop” by Ery Claver (Angola)
– Special mention from the jury: “Regarde les étoiles” by David Constantin (Mauritius)
SHORT FICTION
– Poulain d’or fiction court-métrage : « Will my parents come to see me » de Mo Harawe (Somalie)
– Poulain d’argent fiction short film: “A doll” by Andriaminosa Hary and Joel Rakotovelo (Madagascar)
– Poulain de bronze fiction short film: “Tsutsue” by Amartei Armar (Ghana)
DOCUMENTARIES
– Feature-length documentary gold standard: “Omi Nobu/The New Man” by Carlos Yuri Ceuninck (Cape Verde)
– Feature-length documentary silver standard: “We, students” by Rafiki Fariala (Central African Republic)
– Feature-length documentary bronze standard: “Guardian of the Worlds” by Leïla Chaïbi (Algeria)
– Poulain d’or documentary short film: “Angle mort” by Lofti Achour (Tunisia)
– Poulain d’argent documentary short film: “Katanga nation” by Beza Hailu Lemma (Ethiopia)
– Poulain de bronze documentary short film: “Kelasi” by Fransix Tenda Lomba (DRC)
– Special mention from the jury: “The Messenger of God” by Amina Mamani (Niger) and “Cuba in Africa” by Negash Abdurahman (Ethiopia)
SECTION PERSPECTIVES
– Paul Robeson Prize for the feature documentary “The Specter of Boko Haram” by Cyrielle Raingou (Cameroon)
SECTION BURKINA FASO
– Best Burkinabe film: “Laabli the elusive” by Luc Youlouka Damiba.
– Best Burkinabe hope: “The Botanist” by Floriane Zoundi