1-World Festival of Foreign Films
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"Faraw! Mother of the Dunes" & "Haramuya"
1995/97
Directed by Drissa Toure / Abbdoulaye Ascofare

The first in a series of award-winning films from Africa, which includes Drissa Toure's Haramuya (Burkina Faso / France, 1995, 87 minutes, French and Bambara with English subtitles), a lively dramatic feature about cultural and economic disparities in the capital city of Burkina Faso. These social conflicts are revealed through the trials of a Muslim family caught between the traps of modernity and the sway of tradition. "Haramuya is an urban chronicle, a gallery of portraits in situations which create a colorful mosaic" (Cannes Film Festival). In Abbdoulaye Ascofare's Faraw! Mother of the Dunes (Mali, 1997, 90 minutes, Songhoi with English subtitles), a mother of three tries desperately to keep her family alive upon the return of her mentally and physically destroyed husband, a political prisoner. Determined to have her children survive without prostituting her beautiful daughter, her struggle symbolizes the plight of all African women trapped in a cycle of extreme poverty. "One of the strongest portraits of female determination to come out of Africa" (Variety).  177 minutes.