Samba Traore
In Idrissa Ouédraogo's classic drama, two men commit a crime at a service station. One of them is killed, the other, Samba, flees with a suitcase full of banknotes. Samba returns to his village where he begins a new life… But does one ever forget the past which hunts us? This new 4K restoration by the Locarno Film Festival and Cinegrell Zurich of Samba Traoré, a tense and visually rich modern noir classic from Burkina Faso, was selected as one of the ten best restorations of 2024 by Film Comment and, in 2022, one of the 10 greatest films of all time by Luca Guadagnino.
For this 4K restoration, the 35mm original image and sound negative were digitized in high quality, digitally restored, and a new color grading was applied by Cinegrell. All the original elements are preserved at the Cinematheque Suisse on behalf of Waka Films.
Cast
- Bakary Sangaré
- Mariam Kaba
- Abdoulaye Komboudri
- Irène Tassembedo
- Moumouni Campaoré
- "‘Samba Traoré’ is one of the great classics of my life. I’ll never forget when I saw this movie. It’s from one of the greatest directors of all time."
- "Mr. Ouedraogo permits nothing to come between his audience and the basic, universal matters his films consider. A true and brilliant Minimalist, he tells his stories with extraordinary humanity and without embellishment. Mr. Ouedraogo sustains his gentle, enveloping films with little more than the clarifying honesty of his vision."
- "As usual the director picks a fine cast and directs them with great empathy."
- "One of the ten best restorations of 2024. [A] taut study of guilt."
- "Ouedraogo’s storytelling has a magical quality, but here the characters and setting are thoroughly modern."
Gallery
Awards & Recognition
Silver Bear
Berlin Int'l. Film Festival
Shanghai Int'l. Film Festival
Melbourne Int'l. Film
Locarno Film Festival