Underplayed Gems

Timbuktu (2014)

Timbuktu poster
Directed by
Abderrahmane Sissako
Genre
drama film
Country
Mauritania, France
Runtime
1h 37m
Rated
12
Rating
7.0 of 10 from 515 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

The film shows daily life in the Malian city of Timbuktu under the rule of the jihadist group Ansar Dine. It focuses on a family of cattle herders and a local fisherman whose daughter is harassed by the militants.

slow-burntensegrippingbleakseriouscontemplativeharrowingintimate

What happens

Timbuktu is a 2014 drama film directed and co-written by Abderrahmane Sissako. The film centres on the brief occupation of Timbuktu, Mali by Ansar Dine, and is partially influenced by the 2012 public stoning of an unmarried couple in Aguelhok. Shot in Oualata, Mauritania, Timbuktu was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the François Chalais Prize. Timbuktu was chosen as Mauritania's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and went on to be nominated for the prize at the 87th Academy Awards; it was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language at the 69th British Academy Film Awards. Timbuktu was named Best Film at the 11th Africa Movie Academy Awards, where it was nominated for ten further awards. In 2017, The New York Times ranked it the 12th best film of the 21st century so far. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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