Director
Souleymane Cissé
Cast list
Issiaka Kan: Niankoro, le fils
Aoua Sangare : Attou, la jeune femme Peul
Niamanto Sanogo : Soma le pere / Djigui the twin
Balla Moussa Keita : Rouma Boll, le roi Peul
Soumba Traor: Mah, la mere
Ismaila Sarr: Bofing, l'oncle
Youssouf Tenin Cissé: Le petit garcon d'Attou
Koke Sangare : Le chef de Komo
Credits
Produced by:
Souleymane Cissé producer
Music by: Salif Keita, Michel Portal
Cinematography by:
Jean-Noël Ferragut , Jean-Michel Humeau
Film Editing by:
Dounamba Coulibaly, Andrée Davanture, Jenny Frenck , Nathalie Goepfert , Seipati Keita, Marie-Catherine Miqueau, Seipati N'Xumalo
Production Design by: Kossa Mody Keita
Costume Design by: Kossa Mody Keita
Synopsis
The visual patterning in Souleymane Cissé's film Yeelen reinforces the coming of age, journey motif and the parallel structure of a myth. Nianankoro’s mother sends him on a journey in which he travels from childhood to adulthood and must struggle against his father to find his own destiny. The struggle against the father counters the reformative new with the corrupted older tradition.
Reviews
Caryn James, "Yeelen". The New York Movie review
Accolades:
- Ranked #94 in Empire magazines “The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema” in 2010.