Tunisian director Youssef Chebbi triumphed this Saturday, March 4, in Ouagadougou, by winning the supreme award from Fespaco, the largest African film festival. The young director born in Tunis in 1984 won the Yennenga Gold Stallion for his film Ashkal. Hailing "extreme rigor" and "out of the ordinary work", the president of the jury, the Tunisian Dora Bouchoucha, said that the Gold Stallion had been awarded to Mr. Chebbi unanimously.
In this thriller set in the Jardins de Carthage in Tunis, a neighborhood abandoned after the fall of President Ben Ali in 2011, two police officers investigate mysterious immolations. "It's a detective story, but it's actually about the Tunisian people," said Dora Bouchoucha.
Selected in the fortnight of directors of the Cannes Film Festival in France, Ashkal also won the Antigone d'or, the highest award of the Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier (south-eastern France) in 2022.
The Tunisian director is ahead of two women, the Burkinabé Apolline Traoré for Sira, which receives the Silver Stallion, and the Kenyan Angela Wamai for Shimoni, awarded the Bronze Stallion. Since its creation in 1969, no woman has won the supreme award of this great African film festival. 170 works were in the running in various categories for this edition on the theme "African cinema and culture of peace".
The male and female interpretation go to all the actors and actresses of Sous les figs, by Tunisian director Erige Sehiri.
Tunisia therefore triumphs in this festival of African cinema, at a time when hundreds of nationals from sub-Saharan Africa are fleeing the country because of attacks and demonstrations of hostility following a violent charge by President Kaïs Saïed against the irregular migrants.
The best screenplay was awarded to Bleu du Caftan, by Moroccan Maryam Touzani.
Fifteen fiction feature films were competing for the supreme reward, the Yennenga Gold Stallion, a prize worth 20 million CFA francs (about 30,000 euros). This 28th edition of the festival was held in a very heavy security context in Burkina, shaken by jihadist violence for several years. Security devices, gates, searches, military and armed police were put in place in front of the various places of the festival, which welcomed 20,000 guests, according to the organization.
Despite this context, screenings took place with people displaced by jihadist attacks, in Kaya (Centre-Nord) and Dédougou (Centre-Ouest). The attacks, which mainly affect the northern half of the country, have not ceased. Last Sunday, the town of Partiaga (Northeast) was attacked by jihadists, killing several residents, according to local sources. No official report has been communicated.
Burkina Faso has experienced an intensification of violence by groups linked to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State since the beginning of the year, with several dozen deaths – civilians or soldiers – almost every week. The violence has since 2015 killed more than 10,000 people - civilians and soldiers - according to NGOs, and some two million displaced. The next edition of Fespaco is scheduled to take place from February 22 to March 1, 2025.
Here are the winners of the 28th edition of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Fespaco), the largest African film festival, which ended on Saturday:
FEATURE FICTION
- Yennenga Gold Standard: "Ashkal" by Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia)
- Silver standard: "Sira", by Apolline Traoré (Burkina Faso)
- Bronze standard: "Shimoni" by Angela Wamai (Kenya)
- Male interpretation prize: all the actors of "Sous les figs" by Erige Sehiri (Tunisia)
- Prize for female interpretation: all the actresses of "Sous les figs" by Erige Sehiri (Tunisia)
- Best Decor: “Mami Wata” by Fiery Obasi (Nigeria)
- Best Editing: “Abu Saddam” by Nadine Khan (Egypt)
- Best screenplay: "Le Bleu du caftan" by Maryam Touzani (Morocco)
- Image Prize: "Mami Wata" by Fiery Obasi (Nigeria)
- Sound Prize: "Ashkal" by Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia)
- Best Music: "Our Lady of the Chinese Shop" by Ery Claver (Angola)
- Special Mention of the Jury: "Regarde les étoiles" by David Constantin (Mauritius)
SHORT FICTION
- Poulain d'or fiction court-métrage : « Will my parents come to see me » de Mo Harawe (Somalie)
- Poulain d'argent fiction short film: «A doll» by Andriaminosa Hary and Joel Rakotovelo (Madagascar)
- Short fiction bronze colt: "Tsutsue" by Amartei Armar (Ghana)
DOCUMENTARIES
- Feature Documentary Gold Standard: "Omi Nobu/The New Man" by Carlos Yuri Ceuninck (Cape Verde)
- Feature-length documentary silver standard: "We, students" by Rafiki Fariala (Central African Republic)
- Feature-length Documentary Bronze Stallion: "Guardian of the Worlds" by Leïla Chaïbi (Algeria)
- Poulain d'or documentary short film: "Angle mort" by Lofti Achour (Tunisia)
- Poulain d'argent documentary short film: "Katanga nation" by Beza Hailu Lemma (Ethiopia)
- Short Documentary Bronze Foal: "Kelasi" by Fransix Tenda Lomba (DRC)
- Special Jury Mention: "The Messenger of God" by Amina Mamani (Niger) and "Cuba in Africa" by Negash Abdurahman (Ethiopia)
SECTION PERSPECTIVES
- Paul Robeson Prize for the documentary feature film "The Specter of Boko Haram" by Cyrielle Raingou (Cameroon)
SECTION BURKINA FASO
- Best Burkinabe Film: "Laabli the Elusive" by Luc Youlouka Damiba.
- Best Burkinabe hope: "The Botanist" by Floriane Zoundi
