Finyé

A large, modern African city; a divided society; an encounter between two adolescents in revolt. Bah is the grandson of Kansaye, a descendent of the great traditional leaders of the region. Batrou is the daughter of one of the representatives of the new power, the military governor Sangaré, with whom the two enter into conflict. Bah and Batrou are students, they belong to a generation that refuses to accept the established order and questions the society of their fathers, that runs the risk of getting lost sometimes in its choices (drugs). The showdown with power is set off by the falsification of the election results. The repression, which is orchestrated by Gov. Sangaré, exasperates the discontent. During the manifestations, Bah and Batrou are arrested. They discover prison, physical suffering, and humiliation. But instead of weakening them, this test unites them and gives them the strength to resist.

“The wind awakens men’s thinking”.
In a man’s life, there is always a moment where one should stop to look at what has been done and what has to be done. Finyé sets this double question.
Souleymane Cisseé

Symbols and Signs
The Bambara ideograms which compose the title of the film are the clear traces of an heritage to preserve… or to rediscover.
An heritage that will create a link between two generations, the grandparents’ one (here the old Kansaye) and the grandchildren’s one (Bah, Seydou…), beyond the incomprehension of their fathers. Along the movie there are other signs.
The pumpkin: an empty pumpkin on the Peul woman’s head. A pumpkin full of water, offered by a kid, the traditional symbol of exchange and sharing, but also of respect for the others and of the conveyance of knowledge.
The parable of the stars: freed by the ancestors of the old Kansaye, it announces a new state of society, from the two previous ones (before and after colonization).
There is also, and above all, the wind, symbol of the movement that composes and gives rhythm to the film. Wind of the spirit, wind of history, that sometimes bothers, sometimes unifies (Bah and Batrou in their dream).
Wind of change, that erases the mistakes of the past and makes power and the powers separated from society deciduous; for example, Kansaye or Sangaré’s one, but also the one of youth.
The old Kansaye lost his absolute authority, which used to make his judgments irreversible.
Sangaré (the symbol of an autocracy that doesn’t accept changes, if they’re not it’s decision), contested in his own family by his wives and daughter, will be renegade by those who put him in that position.
In this game of power, the youth is constantly condemned to define itself. A misunderstood youth (Batrou and his father); denied, ignored, far away from the adulthood ( the notable and the addicted guys). They need, all of them, to imagine new relationships.
Bah and Kansaye will make it, eventually. In a sharp way, the apparent submission of Bah to his granddad will be, actually, nothing more than a way to extend his hand to him. Touched, the old man will do his part, reaching for his grandchildren, in order to create a different future, together.
Traduzione in inglese Francesca Sala - English translation Francesca Sala

Regia, sceneggiatura e dialoghi: Souleymane Cissé.
Director of photography: Etienne Carton de Grammont (35mm, colore).
Sound: JeanPierre Houel, Michel Mellier.
Editor: Andrée Davanture (ATRIA).
Art director: Malick Guissé.
Costume designer: Dioncounda Coulibaly.
Music: Radio Mogadiscio, Pierre Gorse, folklore Mali.
Cast and characters: Fousseyni Sissoko (Bah), Goundo Guissé (Batrou), Batla Moussa Keïta (il governatore), Ismaila Sarr (il nonno di Bah), Omou Diarra (la terza moglie del governatore), Ismaïla Cissé (Seydou), Massitan Ballo (la madre di Batrou), Dioncounda Kond (la norma di Bah), Yaeouba Samabaly (il Commissario di polizia), Dounamba Dany Coulibaly, Oumou Koné.
Production company: Souleymane Cissé, Bamako.