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Genesis

Directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko

France-Mali | 102 minutes | 1999

Bambara with English subtitles

This Biblical tale is set in the scrub and chaparral of Mali's Hombori Tondo escarpment, one of the most austere and beautiful places in the world. Genesis recounts the epic feud between Jacob and Esau in the Book of Genesis, 300 years after the great flood. The film stirs an ancient welter of faith, greed, and envy into a frighteningly modern parable of religious hatred. Jacob and Esau's conflict corrodes their souls, but the more urgent question for Sissoko is whether this bitter schism can be healed before it tears apart their family for generations. Which will it be — a dynasty of hate, or a legacy of love? A masterwork of the modern diasporic cinema movement, Genesis' deep understanding of its setting makes it simultaneously a poem for those who have gone on ahead, and an elegy for those who remain, each seeking to wash the blood from the rocks.
Foreign Title La Genese
Director Cheick Oumar Sissoko
Countries of Production France-Mali
Year of Presentation 1999
Language(s) Bambara with English subtitles
Premiere Status
Runtime 102 minutes
Principal Cast Sotigui Kouyaté, Salif Keita, Balla Moussa Keita
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