Wend Kuuni
70 minutes, 1982 , Burkina Faso
Director: Gaston Kaboré
Wend Kuuni is a landmark in African filmmakers' attempts to "return to the sources" of their culture, to recover a "usable" African past to solve the problems of the African present. Filmmaker Gaston Kaboré adapts the measured rhythms of traditional African storytelling to create an authentically African cinematic language. He retells an ancient fable about a mute, memoryless orphan, driven from his homeland, who is renamed Wend Kuuni ("God's Gift") by the grateful village which adopts him. Kaboré uses this simple tale to demonstrate that traditional Mossi values can still provide answers to many problems besetting modern Africa, fractured by rural dislocation, refugees and political conflict.
A film of disarming sophistication and poetic irony.
-- Village Voice
-- Village Voice
"A gentle fable recalling a time of peace and plenty."
-- New York Times
Ways to Watch
Educational Streaming
Colleges, Universities, Government Agencies, Hospitals and Corporations.
Community Screening
Short-term use for small groups, organizations, or high school classes (under 100 participants, where no admission is charged).
Home Viewing
48-hour, personal rental for in-home use only, restrictions apply