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One of the best known directors from West Africa (his lyrical films Yabba, and Tilia have screened to delighted festival audiences in previous years), Idrissa Ouedraogo's new feature is a visually lush, finely honed morality tale that moves between the city and village worlds of Burkina Faso.
After being involved in a gas station holdup, during which the attendant is shot. Samba (Bakary Sangare) flees to his native village with a suitcase full of money and a secret that weighs on his heart. Back amongst his friends and relatives, he tries to create a life for himself, meeting and courting the beautiful Saratou, who has also spent time in the city. Together they try to forget their respective pasts. But can they escape the nightmares that haunt them?
Samba Traore is a film about guilt, about the past that pursues you and always re-emerges. Arguably more 'Western' in its story and style than much of his other work, Ouedraogo still develops his own particular vision. He continues to play with non-traditional storytelling, giving the film an intense emotional immediacy, and his characters a depth and clarity that is rarely seen in other Burkinabe films.