Giants, fairies, magicians, ghosts, dragons, and monsters of all kinds… Here’s what your Cinémathèque has in store this summer! Since Méliès, filmmakers have embraced the fanstastic potential of cinema, creating infinite phantasmagorias and extraordinary spectacles where the unreal becomes real. Step into a world of fantasy and boundless imagination: whatever your generation, the monsters and wonders that once filled your childhood dreams are back this summer 2025!
Winner of the Jury Prize, 1987 Cannes Film Festival
As Niankoro prepares to be initiated into the powerful knowledge of the Bambaras, his father Soma has a vision that his son will be the cause of his death. Knowing her son is in danger, Niankoro's mother helps him flee, taking his father's sacred fetishes with him. A manhunt ensues, culminating in a confrontation between the two sorcerers. This film has been described as metaphysical realism, the culmination of Souleymane Cissé's impressive body of work.
Souleymane Cissé
Souleymane Cissé was a Malian film director, regarded as one of the first generation of African filmmakers. He was called "Africa's greatest living filmmaker" while his film Yeelen has been dubbed "conceivably the greatest African film ever made". In 1987, he was the first director from sub-Saharan Africa to receive an award at the Cannes Film Festival for this film. He was also awarded the Golden Coach at the Directors' Fortnight in 2023, a tribute paid by his peers in recognition of his entire career. His films have been known for their uncompromising depictions of military violence, abuse of money and power, trade unionism, and the enduring stranglehold of patriarchal traditions over Bamako's women and youth. His work exemplifies the development of social realism in African cinema, including its eventual movement towards the recovery of tradition.
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