SA cast features in Burkina Faso film

7 Nov 2011

Burkina Faso filmmaker Idrissa Ouedraogo's earliest memories of film revolve around the travelling cinemas that would visit his village. Through these films, the young Ouedraogo was introduced to the world outside this rural existence. In a similar vein, the title characters in "Kini and Adams", Ouedraogo's 1997 film, share a goal of escaping their rural village existence, to explore the wider world.

"Kini and Adams", boasting a stellar South African cast and with a Cannes Golden Palm nomination, will be screened at the Labia Theatre in Cape Town on 8 November 2011 at 6.15pm. The screening is hosted by the African Arts Institute. The film's cast includes John Kani, Vusi Kunene (recently seen in The First Grader), David Mohloki and Nthati Moshesh. It is in Wolof and French with English subtitles and was filmed in Zimbabwe. Following the Cannes nomination it was awarded the Jury Prize at the 1998 Bermuda International Film Festival.

Friendship put to the test

"Kini and Adams" live in a dull, dusty rural South African community and both are dreaming of leaving it behind to find fortune in the big city. To this end, they begin fixing up a battered old car, but with little access to parts or money. The real test to their friendship comes when a rock quarry opens nearby and one friend is hired as supervisor while the other remains a regular grunt.

Burkina Faso's contribution to African cinema centres around the film festival FESPACO (Festival Panafricain du Cinéma et de la Télévison de Ouagadougou), the largest film exhibition venue in sub-Saharan Africa. Ouedraogo tops a long list of internationally accomplished filmmakers from the country. He graduated from the African Institute for Cinema Studies in Ouagadougou and directed several short films for the Burkina Faso Directorate of Cinema Production. He continued his studies in Kiev before graduating from the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques in Paris. Two of his best known film titles are "Yaaba" and "Tilaï".