TIMBUKTU
Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako
Written by Abderrahmane Sissako and Kessen Tall
Starring Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino, Toulou Kiki, Abel Jafri, Fatoumata Diawara
Opens in New York on January 28, 2015 at Lincoln Plaza Cinema and Film Forum
**Mauritania’s official selection for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film**
**Winner: 2014 Cannes Film Festival’s Ecumenical Jury Prize**
**Winner: 2014 Cannes Film Festival’s Francois Chalais Award**
Official Selection: 2014 New York Film Festival
Official Selection: 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, Masters Section
Director Abderrahmane Sissako will be available for interviews in New York on October 1 and 2
On behalf of Cohen Media Group, you are cordially invited to attend a screening of
TIMBUKTU, acclaimed director Abderrahmane Sissako’s lyrical,
visually arresting drama, a multiple prize-winner at this past year’s
Cannes Film Festival. TIMBUKTU, Mauritania’s
official selection for the Academy Award for Best Foreign
Language Film, is scheduled to open in New York on January 28, 2015 (at
Lincoln Plaza and Film Forum) with a national roll out to follow.
Not far from the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu, now ruled by the
religious fundamentalists, proud cattle herder Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino) lives
peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his
daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed), and Issan (Mehdi Ag Mohamed),
their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined
to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd
sentences. Kidane and his
family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their
destiny changes when Kidane accidentally kills Amadou, the fisherman who
slaughtered “GPS,” his beloved cow. Coming
into fateful conflict with the fundamentalist rulers of the provincial
capital, he has to face the new laws of the foreign occupants. Visually, Timbuktu is a series of wonders and Sissako’s
becalmed and sensitive eye for beauty intensifies the absurdity and horror of the film’s quietly unfolding tragedy.
Born in Kiffa, Mauritania, director/writer Abderrahmane Sissako’s family
emigrated to Mali when he was a child. After returning to his mother’s
homeland of Mauritania at 19, Mr. Sissako left for Moscow in the early
1980s to study cinema at the prestigious
film academy VGIK. He served on the juries of the Berlin and Cannes
Film festivals, and was the jury president at the entrance examination
of the famed French film school La Femis. His previous films include the
acclaimed Life on Earth, Waiting for Happiness, and
Bamako.
“… a mesmerizing mix of mood and tone" —
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
“One of the great portraits of what
happens when Islamic fundamentalists take over a region. What makes it
so good is that it isn’t the usual cavalcade of screaming, gun-happy
terrorists, but a quiet, wise, sometimes funny depiction
of what happens to a community when, bit by bit, it’s taken over by a
medieval vision of life.” —
John Powers, Vogue
Press screening and Press conference:
Wednesday, October 1 at 10:00 am at Walter Reade Theatre, 165 West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues
Press conference with Abderrahmane Sissako immediately following the screening
Running time: 97 minutes
France/Mauritania. In Arabic, Bambara, French, English, Songhay, and Tamasheq with English subtitles.
To RSVP to the screening or request interviews, please email Sophie Gluck at sophie@gluckpr.com or Aimee Morris at aimee@gluckpr.com or
call Sophie Gluck & Associates at (212) 595-2432. THIS INVITATION IS NON-TRANSFERABLE.
Directed by
Abderrahmane Sissako. Written by Abderrahmane Sissako and Kessen Tall.
Cinematography by Sofiane El Fani. Edited by Nadia Ben Rachid. Music
by Amin Bouhafa. Starring Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino,
Toulou Kiki, Abel Jafri, Fatoumata Diawara. A Cohen Media Group
release.
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