''Sia, The Dream of the Python'' () is a
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
film by
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
-based filmmaker
Dani Kouyaté
Dani Kouyaté (born June 4, 1961) is a film director and griot, ''jeli'' (griot) from Burkina Faso, which the BBC describes as "Africa's most important film-making country".
Biography
Kouyaté was born in 1961 in Bobo-Dioulasso. He is the son of ...
.
Plot
Kaya Maghan, the despotic king of Wagadou (Kardigué Laïco Traoré), follows the instructions of his priest by ordering the religious sacrifice to the Python God of Sia Yatabaree (
Fatoumata Diawara
Fatoumata Diawara (, born 21 February 1982) is a Malian singer-songwriter currently living in France.
Diawara began her career as an actress in theatre and in film, including ''Genesis'' (1999), '' Sia, The Dream of the Python'' (2001) and ''T ...
), the daughter of the commander-in-chief Wakhané (
Sotigui Kouyaté
Sotigui Kouyaté (19 July 1936 – 17 April 2010) was one of the first Malian Burkinabé actors. He was the father of film director Dani Kouyaté, of the storyteller Hassane Kassi Kouyaté and of the actor Mabô Kouyaté and was a member of t ...
). A gift of gold equivalent to Sia’s weight is given to her family as compensation for surrendering their daughter for the sacrifice. However, Sia runs away and finds shelter in the home of Kerfa (
Hamadoun Kassogué), a mad prophet who has railed against the king. The king orders his top general to locate Sia, but the general is conflicted since Sia was engaged to marry his nephew, Mamadi (Ibrahim Baba Cissé), who is in battle on behalf of the kingdom. Mamadi returns and joins his uncle to do battle against the Python God. With the help of Balla, a
griot
A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...
(
Habib Dembélé), Mamadi accedes to the throne.
Production and release
The inspiration of ''Sia, le rêve du python'' is a seventh-century myth of the
Wagadu
The Ghana Empire (), also known as simply Ghana, Ghanata, or Wagadu, was an ancient western-Sahelian empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali.
It is uncertain among historians when Ghana's ruling dynasty began. T ...
people of Western Africa, which was adapted into the play ''La légende du Wagudu vue par Sia Yatabéré'' by
Mauritania
Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...
n writer Moussa Diagana. He also adapted the screenplay with filmmaker Dani Kouyaté.
[New York Times review (free subscriber access required)]
/ref>
''Sia, le rêve du python'' played at the 2001 Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou
The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (, or FESPACO) is a film festival in Burkina Faso, held biennially in Ouagadougou, where the organization is based. It accepts for competition only films by African filmmakers and chief ...
(FESPACO), where it won the Special Jury Prize for a Feature Film.
In May 2002, the film had its U.S. theatrical premiere. Critical reaction was mostly positive. Dave Kehr, in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', praised Kouyate’s directing style as giving the film “a certain timeless quality,” though he noted its “measured pace and lack of dramatic inflection can also seem tedious.”Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...
'' praised the timeless nature of the film’s plot, observing that "the subtitled costume drama is set in a remote African empire before cell phones, guns, and the internal combustion engine, but the politics that thump through it are as timely as tomorrow."
''Sia, le rêve du python'' was released in the U.S. on DVD in 2007 as a double-feature with another Burkinabé film, '' Tasuma, The Fighter''.Amazon.com page for DVD release
/ref>
References
External links
*
* {{IMDb title, 0290858
2001 films
Bambara-language films
African fantasy films
Burkinabe drama films