After her uncle Ousmane Coulibaly, a respected patriarch and religious leader, dies in a stampede on his Hajj to Mecca, filmmaker Chloe Aicha Boro returns to her native village, near Dedougou, in Burkina Faso. She is the only woman to have left what is a large and complex family – to live thousands of kilometres away, in France, building a much different life than what would have been possible for her should she stay. In the aftermath of her uncle Ousmane’s death, who is survived by 19 children and has left a large extended family, a decision must be taken about what to do with the land he left behind.
Tradition or profit
The family is divided between those who wish to keep the land and preserve the traditions and those who want to sell it, advocating for modern law. The oral tradition that regulated successions for centuries in this place clashes with the French-inherited justice system from the colonial period. A court has to decide who should inherit, which seals the decision on what happens to the land. Is it his 19 children who have to decide, or are his many brothers still alive?
The story of dividing this inheritance is multilayered and far more complex than deciding what to do with a piece of land. The piece of land is, in fact, a large courtyard that has been a nod and a part of the family for generations. Is it the place where everyone’s umbilical cord was buried – a tradition that binds them to the land? Over the years, as Uncle Ousmane Coulibaly was a religious authority, the courtyard also became a place for prayer and pilgrimage.
Filmed over five years, Boro’s film tells the story of this turning point in her family and is a deeply personal account of her ‘original paradise’, the place she grew up in and the people that made that place alive. ‘Twelve years of exile in France have taught me that returning is often more difficult than leaving’ – she says in a voiceover in the beginning. Her inner divide between loving and having her intimate inner geography shaped by this family and this culture, and having become someone very different in France, is a recurring theme throughout the film.
The family is divided between those who wish to keep the land and preserve the traditions and those who want to sell it, advocating for modern law.
Guided by Islam
Guided by Islam and infused with local traditions and customs – Bono’s lens captures the logic of her family and the place and the distinct flavour of the local life, in which family bonds play a fundamental role. It is a world in which the place of women is assigned by tradition, men being allowed to marry multiple wives. The sincere and non-judgmental eye cast by the camera on these local dynamics and customs turns a story that could feel foreign and distant to a Western eye into one of depth, a deeply human one.
The dim lighting throughout the film adds tenderness to the unfolding family story. Beyond the family, the film is a showcase for the wisdom of the local culture, with its order and depth. It is a tender portrayal that perhaps only someone who deeply understands it and has her umbilical cord buried in its land can capture.
Universal struggles
Eventually, the film delves into the universal struggle between tradition and modernity, belonging and following one’s own way. The humanity of its character, the tenderness of the shots and these universal themes – altogether, the film appears to the emotional self of its viewers, making it deeply relatable: we sacrifice belonging for freedom and freedom for belonging. While one can decide one is more important than the other, we all need both. It’s a divide found not only in the filmmaker’s personal story of departure and return but also in the individual struggles of the family members and in the very question of whether to sell the courtyard or not. As the world moves forward and so do our lives, finding the balance between the two is a delicate act, and often painful and bittersweet. And sometimes, belonging is sacrificed so that something old and dear can unfold into something new.
The film had its international premiere at Visions du Reel and is currently screening at MajorDocs.