World-premiering at the 2014 Cannes Film Fest, where several of his films have been shown, “Timbuktu” represents Mauritanian-born director Sissako’s first film in the prestigious section, Competition.
The film was shown in October at the New York Film Fest, and will open theatrically January 27, 2015.
On one level, “Timbuktu” is a political message feature about an issue few Western viewers know about (and if they do, it’s from the biased media coverage). On another, equally significant level, “Timbuktu” is an arthouse work that’s sharply told and expertly directed, boasting imagery that’s both breathtaking and heartrending.
In this lyrical drama from the African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, after a jihadist takeover of northern Mali, a proud cattle herder comes into a fateful conflict with the fundamentalist rulers of the provincial capital.
![timbuktu_1](https://emanuellevy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/timbuktu_1-300x210.jpg)
A shrewd filmmaker, Sissako knows that lending the film a more straightforward documentary-realistic style would limit its accessibility as well as its status as an art work. As a result, he imbues his dark and grim tale with some absurdist and surreal touches.
It’s to Sissako’s credit that “Timbuktu” is effective in both visceral and cerebral ways, due to the humanist perspective that infuses the tale and its characters.