"Guimba the Tyrant"
1995
Directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko

Winner of the Swissair/Crossair Special Prize from the Locarno International Film Festival and the Ouagadougou Panafrican Film and Television Festival's Grand Prize.  The story of Guimba, the cruel tyrant who is feared by all.   It is probably not a coincidence that this mythical dictator, Guimba, resembles the real dictator, Moussa Traore, who was overthrown in 1991, ending a reign of terror which the people of Mali are unlikely to forget.  The films' director, Cheick Oumar Sissoko was involved in the underground movement against Moussa Traore.  Told in a traditional African narrative style, this film is considered to be one of the most important African films of the decade.  "...a riotously colorful, irreverent satire on the ways of tyrants.." Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.  "Dazzles the senses.  the epic scale and historical sweep set Guimba in a class by itself among African films."..Deborah Young, Variety. Bambara with English subtitles.
93 minutes.