''The Heart's Cry'' () is a 1994 Burkinabé/ French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Idrissa Ouedraogo Idrissa is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Idrissa Adam (born 1984), Cameroonian sprinter * Idrissa Camara, Guinean-born dancer and choreographer * Idrissa Camará (born 1992), Bissau-Guinean footballer * Idrissa Cou ...

Plot

Moctar is a young boy who, although born in France, has grown up in

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. At the age of eleven, he moves with his family to live in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Moctar struggles to adjust to life in France, and is homesick for Africa. He begins to see visions of a

hyena Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the order Carnivora and one of the sma ...

in the street. When he tells people, nobody believes him. He is laughed at by his schoolmates and sent to the school psychologist. He meets a man in the street called Paulo who helps Moctar to understand his visions.

Cast

Richard Bohringer Richard Bohringer () is a French actor, singer, writer, and film director. He is the father of actresses Romane Bohringer and . Early life Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier, France, to a French mother, Huguette Foucault and a German fathe ...

as Paulo * Saïd Diarra as Moctar * Félicité Wouassi as Saffi *

Alex Descas Alex Descas (born January 1, 1958) is a French actor known for his roles in films by Claire Denis and Jim Jarmusch. In France he is also known for his role as Schneider in the French TV series ''Un Flic''. He is a frequent collaborator of Claire ...

as Ibrahim Sow * Clémentine Célarié as Deborah * Jean-Yves Gautier as Paul Guerin * Cheik Doukouré as Mamadou * Adama Ouédraogo as Adama * Ginette Fabet as Firmine * Adama Kouyaté as Grandfather * Valérie Gil as Miss Romand * Grégoire Le Du as Olivier

Reception

It won the OCIC Award - Honorable Mention at the 1994

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

References

External links

* 1994 films 1994 drama films Films directed by Idrissa Ouedraogo French drama films 1990s French-language films Burkinabe drama films 1990s French films {{BurkinaFaso-film-stub