Director

Bassek Ba Kobhio

Cast list

Jeanne Abanda
Epaye Monny Akwa
Daniel Bakang

Credits

Based on the novel: Sango Malo: Le maître du canton by Bassek Ba Kobhio. L'Harmattan. 1991.

Production: Atriascop

Music Score: Francis Bebey

Synopsis

Sango Malo contrasts two views of education. The traditional headmaster represents a rigid, "Eurocentric." curriculum designed to produce docile colonial administrators. Malo, the radical young teacher, emphasizes the practical skills needed to build a self-reliant rural community. The film illustrates Brazilian educator Paolo Freire's celebrated distinction between an education which the ruling class uses to inculcate its values in students' minds and one which empowers students to shape their own destiny. --taken from Newsreel.org

Reviews

"Sango Malo". Newsreel (online newspaper)

Ukadike, Nwachukwu Frank. Black African Cinema. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.

“Offers a vauluable look at the harsh realities of village life in a little-seen land. The director shines with a lively script and complex characters. –Variety magazine

“A wonderful script full of scenes of sparkling lightness and humor” –Cahiers du Cinema

"Sango Malo reflects the thematic continuity and stylistic diversity of African cinema. Its topics - the relevance of education and human solidarity - are timeless and universal."
–Francoise Pfaff, Howard University

Academic Articles:

Diawara, Manthia. African Cinema: Politics and Culture. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1992.