SIRA
Special Features: 2024 Oscar® Selection, Burkina Faso
Offering an unflinching look at the ongoing and brutal crisis plaguing the Sahel region of Northern Africa, Burkinabée director Apolline Traoré (DESRANCES) returns with her intense fifth feature, SIRA, an award-winning epic commanding a bold and steadfast focus on the strength and well-being of the region's women and girls. Carried by camel train, young bride-to-be Sira (Nafissatou Cissé) is crossing the desert in the Fulani tradition to be with her betrothed, Jean Sidi (Abdramane Barry). On an unplanned stop, armed extremists attack and raid their camp, killing the men. Brutalized and then abandoned, Sira begins another long journey across the arid landscape. Refusing to surrender to her fate, Sira decides to keep her enemies close, preparing patiently for her moment to strike. Winner of the Panorama Audience Award at the 2023 Berlinale, SIRA marks a renewed cinematic achievement for Traoré, who blends an impressive use of scale, color and urgent social critique into a thrilling and unforgettable story of survival. However, it is the stoic physicality of Cissé's remarkable debut performance that will leave audiences spellbound. (Note adapted from TIFF.) DIR/SCR/PROD Apolline Traoré; PROD Denis Cougnaud. Burkina Faso/Senegal/France/Germany, 2023, color, 122 min. In More, French and Fulah with English subtitles. NOT RATED
AFI Member passes accepted.
Run Time: 122 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, March 15, 2024
Genre: Drama
