Few films are as fresh and simple as “Yaaba”, even fewer come as close to perfection. Set in a few flat, sunbaked hectares around a village in Burkina Faso the story is told with the directness of fable with little dialogue, and with the four-square photography confined to three colours - brown, blue and green. The central generation gap story is enriched with incidents of village life so that a vast range of human behaviour and experience is packed in without any sense of haste or padding. The result is not an example of naive cinema but a film whose technical and aesthetic sophistication is presented with an uncloying charm.
How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
325200
Language
French
Audience classification
PG
Subject categories
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Africa - Social life and customs
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Village communities - Africa
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Children and adults
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Children and the aged
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)