| Title: | Yeelen a.k.a Brightness |
| Year of production: | 1987 |
| Director: | Souleymane Cissé |
| Country of origin: | Mali |
| Running time: | 105 minutes |
Fantasy movie often described, quite unfairly, as “African Star Wars”. A young man with magical powers journeys to his uncle to request help in fighting an evil sorcerer, who also happens to be his father. Our protagonist, originating from the Bambara tribe, on his quest receives help from the Dogon and Fulani people. This is not coincidental, as throught this movie the director – Souleymane Cissé – attempts to create a national mythology, a common story uniting different peoples of Mali.
Fragment of the movie showing the climactic duel between two magicians:
The World of African Cinema 