Zan Boko

Fri 24 Oct at 8.30pm

Gaston Kaboré | Burkina Faso 1988 | 1h31m | DVD | Moré with English subtitles | 12A

Zan Boko's title is evocative of its central theme - the crisis of traditional culture. The two words refer to the place where the placenta is buried after the birth of a baby among the Mossi people in West Africa, a place that marks the baby's ties with the earth and with the ancestors - it is this connection that the film celebrates.

Zan Boko tells the poignant story of a village family swept up in the current tide of urbanisation. In doing so, the film expertly reveals the transformation of an agrarian, subsistence society into an industrialised commodity economy. Zan Boko further explores the impact of the mass media in changing an oral society into one where information is packaged and sold, boldly addressing issues of urbanisation and government censorship.

This screening is part of a retrospective of the work of Burkinabe director Gaston Kaboré. The filmmaker will be in attendance to talk to the audience after the screening.