Synopsis

Sékou Timité has a dream: to follow in the footsteps of a father he never knew and become a “Djeli,” a griot, one of those guardians of oral tradition in West Africa. Being the only one of his siblings interested in the fading art of the griot, he leaves his family and his Malian village behind and sets out to face the world on the roads of the legendary Mandinka Empire. Torn between his dreams of greatness, his family’s material needs, and the long journey of apprenticeship, he faces the obstacles of a sometimes chaotic present and crosses paths with the region’s greatest griots as well as ordinary people grappling with daily life. His journey of initiation becomes a poetic portrait of a West Africa in search of its shared memory.

Technical details

Directing

Boubacar Sangaré

With

Sékou Timité

Production

Producers : Mamounata Nikiema (Pilumpiku Production, Burkina Faso), Jules David et Hélène Badinter (Ladybirds Films, France), Souleymane Kébé (Sunuy Films, Sénégal), Andrey Soumaté Diarra (Lully Grâce Production, Ivory Coast), Franck Vléhi (DS Productions, Mali)

With the participation of TV5Monde (France) and L'Oeil Vif Productions (France)

Photography

Isso Emmanuel Bationo

Sound

Seydou Gueswende Porgo

Editing

Gladys Joujou

Technical crew

Line producers : Manon Chancé, Pierre Claver Zongo

Sound editing and mixing : Manuel Vidal

Color grading : Michael Derrossett

Partners

Soutiens de l'Aide aux Cinémas du monde – CNC – Institut français, du programme DEENTAL-ACP, mis en œuvre par le CNC, avec la contribution financière de l’Union européenne et le support de l’organisation des Etats ACP, du Fonds de Soutien à l’Industrie Cinématographie de Côte d’Ivoire (FONSIC) en partenariat avec l’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (CLAP ACP 2), du Ministère de la Culture, des Arts et du Tourisme du Burkina Faso et du PAIC-GC – Programme d’Appui aux Industries Créatives et de la Gouvernance de la Culture et le Fonds de Développement Culturel et Touristique (FDCT), du fonds pour la Jeune Création Francophone, du fonds Image de la Francophonie, et du fonds de promotion de l’Industrie cinématographique et audiovisuelle du Sénégal – FOPICA

Diffusion

TV5Monde