“Timbuktu” was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film this year. It has been winning awards around the world, and critics and audiences are raving about it. It also received eight César Award Nominations (France’s equivalent of the Oscars), including Best Picture.
Not far from Timbuktu, now ruled by religious fundamentalists, Kidane lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima, his daughter Toya, and Issan, their shepherd.
In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences.
Kidane and his family had been spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu, but when their destiny changes abruptly, Kidane must face the new laws of the foreign occupants.
The New York Times calls the film “breathtaking” and raves “This is not just a timely movie, it is a great one!” The Wall Street Journal say the film is “astonishing, powerful and transcendent” and “throbs with humanity and abounds in extraordinary images.” And Glenn Kenny from RogerEbert.com calls it “a jaw-dropping piece of filmmaking!”