Film no.4 Buud Yam

Buud Yam, Gaston Kabore, Burkina Faso, 1997

Burkina Faso filmmaker Gaston Kabore revisits the characters from his acclaimed 1982 debut Wend Kuuni in this drama with fantasy elements. Wend Kuuni (Serge Yanogo) was the son of a sorceress who was raised by foster parents and grew up to become a respected citizen in his village. But one day his sister Pughneere (Amssatou Maiga) falls ill, and many of his neighbors are convinced Wend's heritage in the black arts are to blame. Wend sets forth on a long and eventful journey to find a healer who can restore his sister to health, and in turn restore his good name. Buud Yam was awarded the Grand Prize at the 1997 Pan African Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In an early 19th century African village, Wend Kuuni - a young man, lives with his adopted family after his mother was killed as a witch. When Pughneere - his adopted sister - becomes ill, the villagers suspect Wend Kuuni. In order to save Pughneere's life (and his own) he must set out on a journey to find a healer. His quest brings him in contact with people around him and is a journey of self-discovery. - IMDb

Gaston Kabore

Kabore started out as a history student at the Centre d’Etudes Superieures d’Histoire d’Ouagadougou and continued his studies in Paris where he received an MA. During his studies he became interested in how Africa was portrayed abroad, which then led him, in 1974, to study cinematography at the Ecole Superieure d’Etudes Cinematographiques. Further inspiration came upon viewing Ousmane Sembene’s Xala, which he saw as an example of how film could be used to express African culture. After returning to Africa, Kabore was made director of the Centre National du Cinema and taught at the Institut African d’Education Cinematographique. Along with students under his direction there he made his first film, ‘Je Reviens De Bokin’ (I Come From Bokin).

Kabore went on to produce practical documentaries such as 1978’s, ‘Stockez et conservez les grains’ (Store and Conserve the Grain), which focused on agrarian concerns. Another kind of documentary he made in this early period, ‘Regard sur le VI’eme FESPACO’ (A Look at the 6th FESPACO) evidenced his concern for and promotion of African film. Kabore’s first feature, Wend Kuuni (1982) was a breakthrough for African cinema notable for the way it translated African oral tradition to the screen. Next, Kabore returned to address the issues surrounding African cinema with a documentary, ‘Props sur le cinema’ (Reflections on the cinema) (1986). The short film featured two significant African directors, ‘Souleymane Cisse’ from Mali and Mauritania born Med Hondo discussing the problems facing filmmakers on the continent. He followed this with his second feature, Zan Boko (1988) which tells the story of a wealthy businessman who takes away ancestral land from a poor village peasant in order to build a swimming pool. The film focuses not only on the conflict of class struggle but also that of tradition and modernity in postcolonial civilization.

Before his next feature Kabore again returned with a short documentary, Madame Hado (1991), about Mrs. Hado, a celebrated Burkinabe singer and dancer. Kabore was then invited to contribute to the BBC’s ‘Developing Stories’, a series of six films by talented filmmakers from the developing world focusing on environmental and developmental issues. He offered Rabi (1993), which won the first prize for young people’s films at the Okomedia International Ecological Film Festival. Another mark of Kabore’s international recognition was his participation in the film, Lumière and Company (1995) in which 40 directors from around the world were asked to make a short film with the original Cinematographe invented by the Lumiere Brothers. His most recent feature Buud Yam (1997) was the 1997 grand-prize winner of the FESPACO. —IMDb