On a chilling winter night in Chicago, see Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako's film Timbuktu (2014). Timbuktu is in Mali, West Africa, at the southern tip of the Sahara Desert. In 2012, extremist Islamic militant groups occupied the city for several months; in 2013, French and Mali government forces drove the rebels out of the city. The film tells exactly what happened in Timbuktu under the rule of extremist Islamic groups. Many residents have fled (especially Christians). People with nowhere to go, no smoking, no music, no football, women wearing veils and gloves and socks. Those who sang were punished with whipping; couples who "adultered" were punished by "stoning". The kids play ball games without football, very powerful. There are always donkeys walking through the streets without incident, giving the illusion that animals are living more freely.
Film photography, editing, music, etc. are all proficient and exquisite. He also has enough understanding of the characters, delicate and restrained, calm and peaceful. The director Chissako studied film at the Moscow Film Academy for several years before working in France. The film, a French-Mauritania co-production, post-production in France, won a Christian Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. All of these hint at why the film substitutes facts for reasons, idealizes life before extremism, emphasizes the anti-human oppression of extremist Muslim militants and the silent resistance of civilians, and the role played by colonial history and the reasons for the emergence of extremist forces. are ignored. This is destined to be a film that meets Western expectations, and the explanation of the "jihadists" (some joined from France, so the language in the film is not only Arabic and local languages, but also French and English) is ambiguous. However, who is qualified to present a more comprehensive, profound and relatively fair picture? Colored glasses have invaded all sides, and some historical truths are destined to be submerged or distorted.
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