Nuit de la Verite, La

Alternative title: Night of Truth, The
Synopsis: Feature film. A parable set in a fictitious West African country rent by 10 years of tribal conflict between the ruling Nayak and the rebel Bonande. The director has stated that she saw Shakespearean overtones in her attempts to universalise the tragedy of civil war. Some critics have particularised this belief and have seen Mark Antony in the figure of Colonel Theo, a flawed military hero. The many references relating food and mutilation have forged comparisons with Titus Andronicus and the overriding theme of war, peace, and reconciliation through suffering, extreme violence and death can be seen as Shakespearean themes.
Language: French (Standard)
Country: Burkina Faso; France
Medium: Film
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Year of release: 2004
Duration: 99 mins

Director

Fanta Régina Nacro

Producer

Claire-Agnes Lajournard; Fanta Régina Nacro

Cinematographer

Nara Keo Kosal

Screenplay

Fanta Gautron; Fanta Régina Nacro

Music

Nicholas Becker

Art Direction

Bill Marnadou Traore

Cast

Notes: The Bonande and the Nayaks are also differentiated by the language they speak - Dioula and Moore, the two main tongues of Burkino Faso. When they have to communicate with each other they have to use French, the language of the former colonial power.
General: The first sub-Sharan feature film to be directed by a woman.
Awards: Nominated for Grand Prix, Paris Film Festival 2005. Won Best New Screenwriter, San Sebastian International Film Festival, 2005 (Nacro and Gautron).
Reviews: Philip Kemp, ‘Blood Meridian’, Sight and Sound, vol. 15, no. 9 September 2005 pp46-7

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British Universities Film & Video Council