Timbuktu
Timbuktu
dir. Abderrahmane Sissako
France / Mauritania / Mali, 2014 - 97
Ever since religious fundamentalists started spreading terror in the region, many doors in Timbuktu have stayed closed. Armed jihadists patrol the deserted streets, searching for any signs of Western culture. They shoot at infidels and destroy ancient cultural heritage sites. Hastily called courts pass absurd and tragic sentences.
Not far from Timbuktu (but far from the fundamentalists' terror) lives Kidane with his family. He is a goat and cattle herder. One day Issan, an orphan in Kidane's care, loses control of the herd. One of the cows damages the nets of a local fisherman, who kills it in retaliation. Called to the scene, Kidane takes a gun that goes off unexpectedly, killing the fisherman. After the accidental murder Kidane is brutally persecuted and humiliated. As he stands before a court, he must face the new law that contradicts an open and tolerant Islam.
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