TIMBUKTU

"One of the most interesting and ambitious writer/directors working in film today ... [Sissako's] films have always been both memorably magical and supremely honest; Timbuktu is no exception." – Sight & Sound

In March 2012, a group of Malian soldiers joined forces with jihadist Tuareg rebels to seize control of the country's north. Swiftly instituting harsh Islamic laws that banned sports, music and uncovered women, they meted out brutal punishments to those who would disobey, attempting to erase centuries of tradition in the blink of an eye.

Against this backdrop, African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Bamako, MIFF 2006) presents Timbuktu, an achingly beautiful and deeply humane survey of the men and women trying to survive within this new order. A series of gently interwoven vignettes with a devastating core, Timbuktu is a film of breathtaking skill and profound importance whose cry for justice cannot be ignored.

Winner of the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

"Abderrahmane Sissako's passionate and visually beautiful film Timbuktu is a cry from the heart – with all the more moral authority for being expressed with such grace and such care." – The Guardian