In the harsh landscape of the Malian desert, Zamiatou fights to keep her two sons and daughter on the right path while dealing with a disabled husband who is mentally and physically scarred by his years as a political prisoner. Rejecting the idea of prostituting her daughter to French settlers for money, Zamiatou turns to a former lover, who lends her a donkey. With the animal in tow, she braves the desert alone to find a way to support her loved ones.

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One of the strongest portraits of female determination to come out of Africa in recent years, Faraw! Mother of the Dunes uses the slow rhythms of African cinema to underline the single-minded courage of its heroine, a mother of three. Detail by detail, this finely lensed first feature by Mali helmer Abdoulaye Ascofare salutes the triumph of human ingenuity over terrible odds. Its lingering tempo is not for everyone, but fans of African films will find much to admire in this effort.

Ascofare, who also wrote the story, manages to blend the timeless quality of life in the desert (camel caravans, blue-robed nomads, stone cutters) with some very acrimonious comments about government corruption, skillfully woven into the story.

Lensing in the Sahel desert in Mali and Morocco, cinematographer Yorgos Arvanitis turns the immense oceans of sand, where strange rock formations rise up as in Monument Valley, into a legendary landscape. Setting becomes a stark landscape of the soul that reflects Zamiatou’s indomitable willpower and clear thinking.

Also making an important artistic contribution is the musical score of Harouna Barry and Ibrahim Dicko. When Zamiatou’s gray-haired ex returns the symbol of their love, a broken violin, Zamiatou plays it as she rides through the desert, and later dreams of it playing the tune magically by itself. Dreams and memories add depth to the main character, though the lioness’ share of credit goes to thesp Ousmane, who brings great naturalness and power to the role.

Deborah [email protected]

Faraw! Mother of the Dunes.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 30 min
Size: 	1.31 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	704x396 ~> 704x440
Aspect ratio:  	16:10
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	1 879 kb/s
BPP: 	0.281
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/C3ECDD5968CA415/Faraw!_Mother_of_the_Dunes.mkv

Language(s):Songhay, French
Subtitles:English (Hardcoded)

The post Abdoulaye Ascofare – Faraw! AKA Faraw! Mother of the Dunes (1997) first appeared on Cinema of the World.