Abderrahmane Sissako sets his late father’s backyard as a courtroom for the injustices of economic neocolonialism in his 2006 drama Bamako, our second of three forays into the work of the Malian/Mauritanian master director. In a work that inextricably binds the political and the personal, Wilson notes how Sissako creates a sense of place that makes an intellectual argument emotional and Eli suggests that the movie can be viewed as a testimonial. Meanwhile, Ben asks if a fiction narrative is the most cogent mode for Sissako’s argument.

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CREW:
Director & Writer: Abderrahmane Sissako
Producers: Danny Glover, Denis Freyd, Abderrahmane Sissako, Joslyn Barnes, Arnaud Louvet, Maji-da Abdi, François Sauvagnargues
Editors: Nadia ben Rachid, Pauline Casalis
Cinematography: Jacques Besse
Production Design: Mahamadou Kouyaté
Costumes: Maji-da Abdi

CAST:
Melé: Aïssa Maïga
Chaka: Tiécoura Traoré
Saramba: Maimouna Hélène Diarra
Falaï: Balla Habib Dembélé
Chaka’s Sister: Djénéba Koné
Journalist: Hamadoun Kassogué
Civil Party Lawyer: William Bourdon
Defence Lawyer: Mamadou Kanouté
Prosecutor: Gabriel Magma Konate
Témoin 2: Aminata Traoré
Cow-boy: Danny Glover
Cow-boy: Elia Suleiman
Cow-boy: Jean-Henri Roger
Cow-boy: Zeka Laplaine