FRED Film Radio - Interview with filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako on TIMBUKTU
FESTIVAL SYNOPSYS - Timbuktu is silent, the doors closed, the streets empty. No more music, no tea, no cigarettes, no bright colors, no laughs. The women have become shadows. The religious fundamentalists are spreading terror in the region.
In the dunes, away from the chaos, Kidane enjoys a quiet life with his wife Satima, his daughter Toya and Issan, his little shepherd. But his peace is short-lived. After accidentally killing Amadou, a fisherman who stroke down his favorite cow, Kidane must face the law of the new foreign rulers determined to defeat an open and tolerant Islam.
Against the humiliations and acts of brutality performed by these complex men, Timbuktu tells the story of the silent struggle of the people, the fight for life of little Issan, and the uncertain future of the children.
Matt Micucci - I found the rhythm and some of the stylistic choices impressive. What was the reason behind them?
Abderrahmane Sissako - [...] I think cinema needs to show doubt and not tell the truth. There is no truth, we can only pretend that there is one [...] The cinema I make is close to the cinema I love and therefore it's close to the education that I have and the ideas that I have on life. And this idea of cinema is an open invitation to travel, to make a journey together and to share the freedom of the characters that I portray on the screen [...]
MM - So how important is the quality of your images and your other works?
AS - [...] When I started studying cinema in Moscow, I remembered reading a text that said that cinema is something that you see first, and hear second. So, photography is the essential element of the film you're making - the image and the frame. And so, that must be an invitation, an open window onto something. That is why I don't like most of American cinema - because that window never seems to be opening [...]
MM - Do you think there is hope in your film?
AS - I think cinema is an act of hope. Although you may portray a dramatic situation like I do in my film, there is always hope because it is part of humanity. Each of us have a positive side, even in the jihad people. [...] Even with the element of the jihad. You can ban music being played publicly or even in your home but you can never ban the music that plays in your mind and that you play to yourself [...]
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