Taafe Fanga
100 minutes, 1997
Mon. Oct 9, 6:45PM, Rafael
TAAF09R<Buy Tickets>
Tue. Oct 10, 4:15PM, Rafael
TAAF10R<Buy Tickets>
In Kaado and Bambara with English subtitles • In association with California Newsreel, this special screening is a rare chance to see this west African classic set among the 18th-century Dogon in Mali. Adama Drabo's beautifully shot film is a gender-bending farce in which the local women turn the tables on their menfolk. After a spat with her husband about gathering firewood, the exasperated Yayémé heads off into the brush, despite legends about spirits that lurk around after dark. There, she encounters and overwhelms what she takes to be a bush spirit, making off with its imposing mask. This leads to an inspired prank. Yayémé dons the powerful mask and proclaims a new social order: From now on, men and women will trade places. What follows is hilarious, as the terrorized men haul water, cook, clean and exhaustedly feign sleep at day's end to stave off their wives' sexual advances. Drabo's achievement is remarkable–both brilliant comedy and astute social satire. — L. Buchanan
Director: Adama Drabo
Producer: Adama Drabo
Screenwriter: Adama Drabo
Cinematographer: Lionel Cousin
Editor: Rose Evans-Decreane
Cast: Fanta Bérété. Ramata Drabo, Ibrahim S. Koita, Héléne Diarra
Print Source:
California Newsreel
149 Ninth Street
Ste 420
San Francisco, CA, 94103
Tel: 415.621.6196
