Kabala

Credits

Name: Kabala

Country: Mali

Year of publication: 2002

Format: Beta

Color: color

Language : OF m. engl. UT

Duration: 112 Minuten

Direction: Kouyaté, Assane

Screenplay: Dembélé, Abdoul Karim; Kouyaté, Assane

Camera: Humeau, Jean-Michel

Editing: Davanture, Andrée

Sound: Sangaré, Bakary

Actor: Traoré, Modibo; Koné, Djénéba; Traoré, Fily; Kassogué, Hamadoun

Abstract

Kabala is a small West African village suffering from a terrible drought. The only source of water is a holy well that shows signs of contamination. The village elders decide that a traditional dance of fire is needed to bring life back to the village. Hamalla (Modibo Traoré), one of the village`s many youths, prepares to join this sacred dance until his torch doesn`t light, and he is cast out of the ceremony as doubts begin to surface about his legitimacy. Humiliated, he leaves the village and the woman he loves, Sokona (Djénéba Koné), to work as a dynamite blaster in a distant mine.

Four years pass, and Hamalla hears news of tragic fatalities in his village due to the tainted well water. He decides to return home to provide assistance. There he is reunited with Sokona, who is now betrothed to Hamalla`s brother, Sériba (Fily Traoré), who already has a pregnant wife. The men`s father, Babji (Baba Dabo), attempts to reconcile violent dispute between his sons, suffering a severe heart attack. On his deathbed, Babji reveals a secret to Hamalla that explains why he was originally cast out of the sacred fired dance é Hamalla`s mother is the local witch, Bayassa (Nakani Koné). Their love was not allowed to exist; Babji was forced to raise Hamalla with a new wife.

Hamalla tries to convince the village elders of the necessity to drill within the sacred well, but his entreaties are presumed to be a desecration of the village`s spiritual symbol. (Africultures)