Films with:

Guimba un tyran, une époque = a tyrant in his time /

A tyrant throws his city into conflict and chaos when he allows his randy, dwarf son to reject an arranged marriage to the slim local beauty in order for him to pursue the girl's larger, married mother. The tyrant then sets his own eyes on the girl, making the situation even worse. An epic set in the legendary past of Mali (West Africa) to provide a biting allegory of present-day African politics. Through the story of the downfall of Guimba the tyrant, the filmmaker foretells a similar fate for the many dictators who still pillage the continent. He frames his film with the appearance of a griot, a traditional African storyteller who passes down the "wisdom of the ancestors," looking to the values and legends of the African past for inspiration and guidance in reconstructing well-governed, self-sufficient nations.

DVD 6800

Kounandi

An adult fairy tale about love, friendship and sacrifice. Also addresses social conflict and prejudices.

DVD 6802

September 11

Eleven filmmakers from eleven countries reflect on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in short films each lasting 11 minutes, 9 seconds and 1 frame. Samīrā Makhmalbāf presents a female teacher, at an Afghani refugee camp in Iran, organizing the children for a minute's silence; meanwhile the adults express fears of an American bombardment. Claude Lelouch presents the tale of a World Trade Center tour guide who is on the verge of a breakup with his deaf girlfriend when the terrorist attacks occur. Yūsuf Shāhīn presents a young American soldier who comes to haunt a famous film producer and they engage in a highly conflicted dialogue. Danis Tanovič presents the women of Srebrenica (a town where thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys were massacred Serbs on July 11, 1995) continuing their monthly protests, despite the September 11th terrorist attacks. Idrissa Ouedraogo presents a young boy in Burkina Faso on the trail of a man he believes to be Osama Bin Laden. Ken Loach's presents a Chilean refugee who offers his condolences to the American victims; he then, in an open letter, describes the CIA-sponsored coup d'ťat of September 11, 1973, which installed the dictatorship of General Pinochet. Alejandro Gonzl̀ez Iñàrritu presents flashes of images of bodies falling from the World Trade Center, accompanied by chanting. Amos Gitaï presents a preening television news journalist enraged that her report about a Palestinian bombing in Tel Aviv will not be broadcast because of late breaking news about the attacks. Mira Nair presents a New York Muslim suspected of being a terrorist, but who is actually a heroic rescue worker. Sean Penn presents a lonley widower who lives in an apartment that is shaded by the World Trade Center. Shōhei Imamura presents a Japanese soldier who returns home from fighting in World War II. He is convinced that he is a snake, and he refuses to eat anything other than live rats.

DVD 8659