Yam Daabo

Directed by Idrissa Ouédraogo

Burkina Faso

1987

79 mins

Synopsis

One of the great debuts of African cinema, Idrissa Ouédraogo’s Yam Daabo follows a family seeking land, dignity and freedom in Sankara-era Burkina Faso. 4K restoration.

Yam Daabo marked the auspicious debut of Burkinabé master Idrissa Ouédraogo (Yaaba, SFF 1990; Samba Traoré, SFF 1993), whose films so often traced the tensions between tradition and modernity. The title means ‘the choice’ – here, the courageous decision of a family who leave behind their life in the city, dependent on international aid, in favour of a more self-sufficient countryside existence. Once they settle, new tensions emerge, including a heated rivalry between two suitors for the family’s daughter. Made during leader Thomas Sankara’s revolutionary push for a self-reliant Burkina Faso, this evocative film (scored by the great Francis Bebey) lends political significance to an intimate family story.

YAM DAABO: Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in collaboration with Les Films de la Plaine and the family of Idrissa Ouédraogo.

“Although the central story is intimate in scale, the film’s scope is large and its social purview deep. Using modest means and methods, Yam Daabo proves to be more than just engaging—it’s exemplary.”

Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“At the core of Ouédraogo’s cinema is a concern with ethics, individual dilemmas, and growth. He celebrates the collective ability to invent new possibilities and new beginnings without sacrificing the fierce individual personalities that form his cast of characters.”

Chrystel Oloukoï, CurrentM/em>

Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Tickets

Wed 3 June 2026, 6:30pm

Palace Central Cinemas - Cinema 1

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