Zan Boko

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Gaston Kaboré’s movie «Zan Boko explores the conflict between tradition and modernity with a family in a rural contexr. It has been for long time a central theme in many African films. Kaboré tells the poignant story of a village family swept up in the current tide of urbanization. In doing so, «Zan Boko» expertly reveals the transformation of an agrarian, subsistence society into an industrialized commodity economy.

Festivals & awards

Karthago 1988
Silberner Tanit
Amiens 1988
Spezialpreis der Jury

Berlin 1988
Interfilm-Preis

artwork

Credits

Original Title
Zan Boko
Title
Zan Boko
Directed by
Gaston Kaboré
Country
Burkina Faso
Year
1988
Screenplay
Gaston Kaboré
Film Editing
Andrée Davanture, Marie-Jeanne Kanyala
Soundtrack
Henri Guédon
Cinematography
Sekou Ouedraogo
Sound
Joanny N. Traoré
Production Design
Joseph Kpobly
Production
Gaston Kaboré
Formats
35mm
Runtime
98 min.
Language
More/d/f
Cast
Joseph Nikiema (Tinga), Colette Kaboré (Nopoko), Célestin Zongo (Yabre), Hippolyte Wangrawa (Boy), Gady Pafadnam (Tiraogo), Simone Tapsoba (Tirago's Wife)

Pro Material

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Press voices

«Thema ist die Konfrontation zwischen Stadt und Land, zwischen traditionellen Werten und zerstörerischer Moderne.»

Filmpodium

«Kaboré creates a gripping narrative out of the story of two men from very different worlds. They share a common integrity: a peasant farmer who loses his land to a wealthy businessman and a journalist whose uncompromising TV expose of the farmer’s victimization, is censored by a corrupt government. This film is the first to examine the role of mass media in contemporary Africa, Zan Boko is a tribute to the ancestral heritage of agrarian village societies.» New York African Filmfestival

«The film provides viewers with a unique opportunity to see our own televised civilization through the eyes of the traditional societies it is replacing.» California Newsreel

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Gaston Kaboré:

«Zan Boko est le choc de deux monde, choc à la fois spatial et culturel entre la ville et la campagne, qui se réalise au détriment de la seconde. Ce film raconte la disparition d'un petit village d'Afrique Noire qui est absorbé par une agglomération urbaine en pleine extension. Une communauté rurale caractérisée par un rythme propre de vie et une vision spécifique du monde, va brutalement basculer et perdre son identité.»

«Ich halte eine Evolution für notwendig. Afrika kann nicht statisch bleiben. Aber man muss all das behalten, was positiv ist auf der Ebene der sozialen Werte und der tiefen Beziehung zwischen den Menschen.»