documenta 14
An Opera of the World, 2017 a film by Manthia Diawara
16.06 - 17.09.2017
Daily screenings, 12:00, 4:30, 6:00

documenta 14 in Kassel and Maumaus / Lumiar Cité present, in collaboration with the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development and ZDF/3sat, Manthia Diawaraʼs most recent film An Opera of the World. The film is based on ʻBintou Were, a Sahel Operaʼ, which narrates an eternal immigration drama. The opera, filmed in Bamako in 2007, serves as a mirror for Diawara to build an aesthetic and reflexive story, through song and dance, about the current and yet timeless drama of emigration between North and South and refugee crises. The film ponders the realities of cultural encounters through the concepts of métissage and hybridity. The success and limits of fusing African and European perspectives are tested by interlacing performances
from ʻBintou Were, a Sahel Operaʼ, past and present archival footages of migrations, classic European arias and interviews with European and African intellectuals, artists and social activists.

Produced by Maumaus / Lumiar Cité, co-produced by the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development, ZDF/3sat and documenta 14.
Portugal, USA, Mali
Director: Manthia Diawara Producer: Jürgen Bock

Venue:
BALi-Kinos im Kulturbahnhof Kassel Rainer-Dierichs-Platz 1
34117 Kassel
Germany

Bambara, English, French and Wolof with English and German subtitles, 70 min