Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu begins an exclusive run at Vancity Theatre tonight at 6:30 p.m. The Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film and winner of seven French César Awards, including Best Film, deals with the traumatic months in 2013 when foreign Jihadists seized control of the ancient Saharan city and imposed Sharia law.
In an interview this week at the Cannes Film Festival Sissako says, “The most challenging aspect of a film is the angst involved in making it.” Sissako is President of the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury at this year’s festival: http://bit.ly/1AcQsXS.
The Brave Sage of Timbuktu: Abdel Kader Haidara — Librarian revived interest in Mali’s illustrious past and then had to save it from jihadists, says Joshua Hammer in National Geographic piece: http://bit.ly/1hdKVB3.
Rare manuscripts from Timbuktu include a copy of the Koran written on fish skin: http://rfi.my/1HwG6Vm.
Timbuktu’s Djinguereber mosque: http://bit.ly/1PyIPC1.
Fatoumata Diawara and Amine Bouhafa perform Timbuktu Fasso: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yOfimHhARw.
North Shore News interview with Fatoumata Diawara from 2013: http://bit.ly/1HkuUWo.
