''Yeelen'' ( Bambara for "brightness"/"light") is a 1987

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

an film directed by Souleymane Cissé. It is filmed in the Bambara and Fula languages, and is based on a legend told by the Bambara people. Though the era is undefined, it is presumably set in the 13th century in the Mali Empire and is a heroic quest narrative featuring magic and precognition. Cissé has stated in an interview for '' Cahiers du Cinéma'' that it was "in part made in opposition to European ethnographic films” and that he “wanted to make a response to an external perception, a perception by white technicians and academics, an alien perception." It stars Issiaka Kane as Nianankoro, a young

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n man who possesses magical powers. Niamanto Sanogo plays Niankoro's father, who is tracking his son through the Bambara,

Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...

and

Dogon Dogon may refer to: *Dogon people, an ethnic group living in the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa *Dogon languages, a small, close-knit language family spoken by the Dogon people of Mali *'' Dogon A.D.'', an album by saxophonist Juliu ...

lands of

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

using a magical wooden post to guide him.

Plot

Nianankoro's father Soma is a part of the order of Komo, who practice magic, but he uses his powers for self-gain. He becomes determined to kill his son after receiving a vision that his son will cause his death. Aided by his mother, Nianankoro steals several of his father's sacred fetishes and leaves his village to seek out his uncle for help. Soma pursues him with the aid of an enchanted pylon that tracks his son's location and breaks all barriers that deter it. As he travels, Nianankoro encounters a hyena who tells him his destiny is to be great. Passing through the territory of the Fulas, he is thought to be a thief and captured. Their king Rouma Boli orders him killed, but Nianankoro creates magic that freezes his guards and declares they cannot kill him. Impressed, King Rouma offers Nianankoro his freedom in exchange for aid against a rival tribe. When the tribe attacks, Nianankoro summons a swarm of bees and a fire that drives their attackers away. The king thanks Nianankoro and asks him to cure his wife Attou's infertility. Nianankoro creates an enchantment, but he and Attou are overcome by lust and sleep together. That night they return to Rouma to confess their crime, and the king reluctantly orders them married and to leave. Nianankoro and Attou continue their travels while his father remains in pursuit. Soma sacrifices an albino man and a wild dog to appease the gods who grant him power to hunt his son. He then meets with the Komo and warns them that Nianankoro intends to disperse their magic for all the people to use. Nianankoro and Attou reach his uncle Djigui, who was blinded long ago when he chose to use the artifact of Kore's Wing for his people. He gives the relic to Nianankoro and tells him and Attou, who is pregnant, that their children will become a nation who will face hardship and be sold in slavery, but ultimately prosper. Taking Kore's wing, Nianankoro leaves to confront his father and gives his cloak to Attou to in turn give to his son. She takes refuge with Djigui as they prepare for incoming devastation. Reaching his father, Nianankoro attempts to reason with him but is dismayed to find his father cannot bear to share his power and only wants him dead. They call upon the power of their artifacts, Soma with his pylon and Nianankoro with Kore's Wing, turning themselves into an elephant and a lion, respectively. The power of Kore creates a blinding wave that kills them both and transforms the land around them into sand. After their deaths, Attou and her young son come to the site and find two eggs. Her son takes the egg of his father and his mother gives him Kore's Wing, and they leave the desert.

Cast

* Issiaka Kane - Nianankoro * Aoua Sangare - Attou * Niamanto Sanogo - Soma / Djigui *

Balla Moussa Keita Balla may refer to: Places *Balla village in Tangail, Bangladesh *Balla, County Mayo, a small town in Ireland * Balla (Pieria), an ancient city in Macedonia *Balla village in Karnataka, India * Balla-Bassène, a settlement in Senegal * Balla-Dj ...

- Rouma Boll, Fula king * Soumba Traore - Mah * Ismaila Sarr - Bofing * Youssouf Tenin Cissé - Le petit garçon d'Attou * Koke Sangare - Komo chief

Accolades

''Yeelen'' was met with wide critical success and has been called "conceivably the greatest African film ever made." It was awarded the

Jury Prize A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England duri ...

at the

1987 Cannes Film Festival The 40th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 19 May 1987. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Sous le soleil de Satan'' by Maurice Pialat, a choice which was considered "highly controversial" and the prize was given under the jeers of the public. ...

, becoming the first African film to win a prize in the festival's history. It was also nominated for the

Golden Palm The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

award for the same year. It was nominated for Best International Film at the

4th Independent Spirit Awards The 4th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 1988, were announced on March 25, 1989 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. It was hosted by Buck Henry. Winners and nominees Films with multiple ...

. It was ranked #94 in ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gave the film a 90% rating on the Tomatometer.Rotten Tomatoes
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References

Bibliography

* Samuel Lelièvre, ''La Lumière de Souleymane Cissé. Cinéma et Culture'', Paris, L'Harmattan, 2013 ().

External links

* *
Yeelen
at Film Atlas - Contains detailed plot summary. {{Souleymane Cissé 1987 films 1980s adventure drama films 1987 fantasy films Fantasy adventure films African fantasy films Afrofuturist films Burkinabé drama films French drama films Malian drama films West German films Bambara-language films Fula-language films Films directed by Souleymane Cissé Films set in the 13th century Films set in Mali Films set in pre-colonial sub-Saharan Africa 1987 drama films German drama films 1980s French films 1980s German films