Samiya, la saison des amours

Feature | Mauritania

Synopsis

Bamby, an 18-year-old girl, returns to her village in the heart of the Sahel to get married.

But the village elders have decided to cancel the ceremony, as the rainy season has not been good, and insecurity is threatening the village. However, Bamby and the other brides-to-be are not giving up, and are organizing to save their weddings. But just a few days before the wedding, Mamadou, a young soldier and Bamby’s fiancé, and some of his brothers-in-arms return from the front seriously wounded. While waiting for the nuptials, Bamby and his sisters in misfortune begin another battle: caring for their men.

Production note

Ousmane Diagana is part of this young generation of Mauritanian filmmakers who fought hard to make movies in a political context which is not that simple. When he told me about his feature project “Samiya”, I was immediately attracted by the mix of modest writing and the promise of poetry that can emerge in different parts of the staging while a drama is playing out behind the scenes. Working again with Ousmane means taking up the challenge of giving him another chance to let us hear a rare political voice: that of the impact of climate change and, above all, its consequences, which are destabilizing our societies and heightening insecurity in our countries.

Amid this scourge, men, and women like Bamby, whether from the North or the South, are fighting for peace on a daily basis.

Director
Ousmane DIAGANA
Mauritania

Samiya, la saison des amours OFL 2023

Producer
Sébastien TENDENG
Senegal