Abderrahmane Sissako directs "Bamako", a film whose title refers to the capital city of Mali.
Beginning at dawn, "Bamako" is an allegory in which the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are put on trial for destroying Mali (and by extension continental Africa). Here, lawyers, civilians and civil leaders all act as either prosecutors or defence attorneys.
The film eventually becomes a damning indictment of both the IMF and the World Bank. Fingers are pointed at the World Trade Organization, the G8, and the "pay or die" mentality of the West, all of which have helped lock Africa into a vicious circle of debt. 40 percent of the continent's annual budget, we learn, now goes toward repayments. These repayments are themselves endless, as interest rates are forever escalating.
To make matters worse, "borrowed aid money" comes attached to all manners of stipulation. End result: aid is used not for the creation of jobs for locals, but for the betterment of multinational companies who simply do and seize what they wish. Meanwhile, all the continent's public institutions and social services are being sold off to the highest bidders, who then go on to charge illiterate locals for basic amnesties (food, water, education, health-care etc). This new form of Colonialism, the film shows, breeds debt, forces aid "conditionalities" and always results in economic restructuring and widespread privatisation.
Before it ends, the film touches upon the threats the IMF and World Bank have become adept and dishing out. Such threats ensure that the world is open for the "free movement" of certain people, but not Africans, who are swiftly sent back home should they try to emigrate. Likewise, the film touches upon the way the World Bank threatens to withdraw financial support should its demands not be met, and the various sanctions and crippling "free trade" laws routinely forced upon the continent.
The film was shot on a low budget, but it's paced well and its dialogue manages to grip. Unlike, say, "12 Angry Men", the film occasionally breaks away from its claustrophobic court setting to meditate upon Africa's gentle beauty. Though at times poetic, the film is also didactic, too polemical and preaches to its own choir. It was a big hit in France.
7.9/10 – Worth one viewing.
Beginning at dawn, "Bamako" is an allegory in which the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are put on trial for destroying Mali (and by extension continental Africa). Here, lawyers, civilians and civil leaders all act as either prosecutors or defence attorneys.
The film eventually becomes a damning indictment of both the IMF and the World Bank. Fingers are pointed at the World Trade Organization, the G8, and the "pay or die" mentality of the West, all of which have helped lock Africa into a vicious circle of debt. 40 percent of the continent's annual budget, we learn, now goes toward repayments. These repayments are themselves endless, as interest rates are forever escalating.
To make matters worse, "borrowed aid money" comes attached to all manners of stipulation. End result: aid is used not for the creation of jobs for locals, but for the betterment of multinational companies who simply do and seize what they wish. Meanwhile, all the continent's public institutions and social services are being sold off to the highest bidders, who then go on to charge illiterate locals for basic amnesties (food, water, education, health-care etc). This new form of Colonialism, the film shows, breeds debt, forces aid "conditionalities" and always results in economic restructuring and widespread privatisation.
Before it ends, the film touches upon the threats the IMF and World Bank have become adept and dishing out. Such threats ensure that the world is open for the "free movement" of certain people, but not Africans, who are swiftly sent back home should they try to emigrate. Likewise, the film touches upon the way the World Bank threatens to withdraw financial support should its demands not be met, and the various sanctions and crippling "free trade" laws routinely forced upon the continent.
The film was shot on a low budget, but it's paced well and its dialogue manages to grip. Unlike, say, "12 Angry Men", the film occasionally breaks away from its claustrophobic court setting to meditate upon Africa's gentle beauty. Though at times poetic, the film is also didactic, too polemical and preaches to its own choir. It was a big hit in France.
7.9/10 – Worth one viewing.