
The Choice
Yam Daabo
1987
Synopsis
Poverty and misery are rife in Gourga, a village in the Sahel. The inhabitants must choose: stay and await international assistance or leave for more fertile regions in the country. Salam, a peasant, and his family opt for the second solution, with all the sacrifices this entails.
Editorial
A film of sublime pastoral beauty, Idrissa Ouédraogo’s unsung debut situates its tale of an imperiled romance within the economic turmoil of postindependence Burkina Faso. Against the neocolonial spectacle of foreign aid, the desire to love freely embodies a nationwide struggle for self-reliance.
