Tilaï ("The Law")[1] is a 1990 award-winning Burkinabé drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Idrissa Ouédraogo. It premiered at the 1990 Toronto Festival of Festivals.

Tilaï
VHS cover
Directed byIdrissa Ouédraogo
Written byIdrissa Ouédraogo
Elsa Monseigny
Produced byIdrissa Ouédraogo
Beatrice Korc
Silvia Voser
StarringRasmane Ouedraogo
Ina Cisse
Roukietou Barry
Assane Ouedraogo
CinematographyPierre-Laurent Chénieux
Jean Monsigny
Edited byLuc Barnier
Michael Klochendler
Music byAbdullah Ibrahim
David Williams
Billy Higgins
Distributed byLes Films De L'Avenir (Burkina Faso)
New Yorker Films (United States)
Waka Films (Switzerland)
Rhea Films (France)
Release dates
Running time
81 minutes
CountriesBurkina Faso
Switzerland
France
Germany
United Kingdom
LanguageMossi (Mooré)

Plot

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Saga returns to his village after a long absence, and finds that his father has married Nogma, his fiancee, during his leave.[2] Nogma has become his second wife, and by law, Saga's mother. Saga runs away and builds a straw hut near the village.

Still in love, Saga and Nogma begin an affair, with Nogma telling her parents she is going to visit her aunt, then running to Saga's hut. After the affair is discovered, Saga's father decrees that he must die for dishonoring the family. Nogma's father hangs himself from a tree, and Nogma is disowned by her mother at her father's funeral. Saga's brother Kougri is selected to execute Saga. He pretends to kill Saga so as to restore the family's honor.[3]

Saga and Nogma then run away to another village, and the family falls apart. As Saga and Nogma begin to build a life, Nogma tells Saga that she is pregnant. Meanwhile, Kougri comes to regret his failure to kill Saga. After Saga's birth mother dies, Saga returns to the village, exposing Kougri's failure to carry out his father's orders. Kougri's father tells him he is banished. Kougri then picks up Saga's rifle and shoots him for having brought ruin to the family and his own life. He then walks off into exile and probable death.

Cast

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Awards

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Tilaï won the Jury Grand Prize at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival[4] and the Grand Prize at the 1991 Panafrican Film and Television Festival.

Bibliography

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  • Tilai (1990), Corndog Chats, 16 February 2013, Adam Kuhn, Access date: 9 May 2022
  • A passion not to be denied, Reelingback, 28 February 2021, Michael Walsh (First publish: 28 June 1991), Access date: 9 May 2022

References

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  1. ^ Law of the Jungle, Bert Cardullo, The Hudson Review, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Winter, 1992), pp. 639-647 (9 pages) [Citation: "Tilai" means "the law" or "the code of honor" in the local Moorish language...]
  2. ^ Cinema: Tilai (1990), Gianfranco Della Valle, 11 agosto 2010 (in Italian)
  3. ^ Tilaï ("Résumé"), Cinema-francais (in French), Access date: 09 May 2022
  4. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Tilaï". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
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