Yaaba Explained

Yaaba
Director:Idrissa Ouedraogo
Producer:Arcadia Films, Les Films de l'avenir, Télévision suisse romande, Thelma Film AG
Screenplay:Idrissa Ouédraogo
Starring:Fatimata Sanga, Noufou Ouedraogo, Roukietou Barry, Adama Ouedraogo, Amadé Tour
Music:Francis Bebey
Cinematography:Matthias Kälin
Editing:Loredana Cristelli
Distributor:New Yorker Films (U.S.)
Runtime:90 minutes
Country:Burkina Faso
Switzerland
France
Language:Mòoré
Gross:$55,000

Yaaba is a 1989 Burkinabé drama film written, produced, and directed by Idrissa Ouedraogo, "one of the best known films from francophone sub-Saharan Africa".[1] It won the Sakura Gold prize at the 1989 Tokyo Film Festival.[2] The film was selected as the Burkinabé entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[3]

The film was the subject of a short documentary Parlons Grand-mère, which was shot during the film's production by Djibril Diop Mambéty.

Plot

Burkina Faso's smallest village. The main character of the tale is 10-year-old Bila, who makes friends with Sana, an elderly woman. Everyone refers to her as "Witch," but Bila calls her "Yaaba" (grandmother). Sana's medicine is what keeps Bila's cousin Nopoko from dying when she becomes ill.

Awards

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Teresa Hoefert de Turégano. African Cinema and Europe: Close-up on Burkina Faso. 2004. European Press Academic Pub.. 978-88-8398-031-2. 175–180.
  2. Web site: Tokyo film festival gives big cash awards . 2011-08-23. chron.com.
  3. Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences