Entertainment

Film Review: Timbuktu

Published

11 years ago

January 28, 2015

Oakland Post

Toulou Kiki, Ibrahim Ahmed, and Laya Walet Mohamed co-star in the drama, Timbuktu. (Courtesy Photo)

By Dwight Brown
NNPA Film Critic

Islamic fundamentalists are encroaching on the basic liberties of people in Africa and the Arab world. We hear about it, but it’s hard to put into context, hard to understand the magnitude of the situation. Leave it to veteran, Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Bamako) to boil a complicated social phenomena down to a simple allegorical tale that’s as educational and spiritual as a biblical passage.

A dark cloud looms as Jihadists take over Timbuktu, Mali. The zealots have outlawed music, soccer and socializing. They’re hostile to local men and particularly treacherous to women, especially those who try to make a living. They impose harsh sentences, even death, for any offense.

Miles away in a desolate area, surrounded by golden sand dunes and only a few shrubs, a Tureg family makes a meager existence. The people around them have fled, bullied by the encroachers. Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed) lives with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his 12-year-old daughter Toya (Laya Walet Mohamed) and Issan (Mehdi A.G. Mohamed) their young shepherd, an orphan the couple adopted.

The daily indignities of the new repressed life in Timbuktu feel a lifetime away, until Issan and one of Kidane’s cows is involved in an incident with a fisherman. Kidane comes to Issan’s defense. That confrontation takes Kidane from a cloistered, sanguine life into the middle of a religious/cultural/political tyranny he couldn’t fathom. He’s soon fighting for his life.

The scourge of Sub Sahara and Northern Africa and Arab countries comes into full view in this minimalist, modern, pastoral fable. It is expertly told by Abderrahmane Sissako, whose inspiration for this cautionary tale was an incident in Mali, where a couple with two children was stoned to death because they were not legally married. Extremists were the culprits.

We read about the 220 little girls who were kidnapped, think it’s a major atrocity but don’t understand how that kind of terrorism and oppression grinds people down on a daily basis. In just 97 minutes, this astute filmmaker, with co-writer Kessen Tall, boils down the complexities of the new fanaticism, into terms we can understand. He does it with a vignette featuring vulnerable humans who had lived life with a reasonable expectation of basic freedoms that are now stripped away, day by day.

Golden sand dunes provide a rich background, a mesmerizing canvas through the lens of Director of Photography Sofian el Fani (Blue is the Warmest Color), who actually shot the footage in the towns of Oualata and Nema, Mauritania. The tightly-woven storytelling is aided by the precision editing of Nadia Ben Rachid. Amine Bouhafa’s music accentuates the right scenes, from the simple family life to the harsh tribunals.

Ibrahim Ahmed’s stoic portrayal of Kidane centers the movie. He makes the character lifelike, deserving of a wonderful life and not indignities. Toulou Kiik, as his loving wife Satim who is warned to cover her face with a burka or suffer the consequences, displays inner strength. Layla Walet Mohamed as the young girl Toya and Mehdi AG Mohamed as Issan, the catalyst, are perfectly innocent. Salem Dendou doesn’t overplay the role of Chief Jihadist, the head of the tribunal. His interpretation of the demonic antagonist is that he is rightfully in power and serving a higher being than everyone else.

Many films take on a controverisal subject and become preachy and dogmatic. In the hands of Sissako, the plight of thousands if not millions of people who are losing basic freedoms too militant religious fanatics is all the more devastating because he trimmed the problem down to its roots. To the basics.

This is a masterwork from one of the world’s most perceptive artists. In fact calling Sissako a brilliant filmmaker is an understatement. He comes from a tradition of storytelling that made African filmmakers like Ousmane Sembène (Guelwaar) healers, shamans and elders. He’s a genius.

Visit NNPA Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 11 = 17, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 11 – 17, 2026

Published

2 days ago

February 16, 2026

Oakland Post

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Arts and Culture

Book Review: Books on Black History and Black Life for Kids

For the youngest reader, “As You Are: A Hope for Black Sons” by Kimberly A. Gordon Biddle, illustrated by David Wilkerson (Magination Press, $18.99) is a book for young Black boys and for their mothers. It’s a hope inside a prayer that the world treats a child gently, and it could make a great baby shower gift.

Published

1 week ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Photo of Black History Month book covers by Terri Schlichenmeyer.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Authors: Various, Copyright: c. 2025, 2026, Publishers: Various, SRPs: $17.99-$18.99, Page Counts: Various,

Everybody in your family has stories to share.

Your parents have told you some, no doubt. Your grandparents have offered a few, too, and aunties and uncles have spun some good tales. But there’s so much more to know, so grab one of these great books and learn about Black History and Black life.

For the youngest reader, “As You Are: A Hope for Black Sons” by Kimberly A. Gordon Biddle, illustrated by David Wilkerson (Magination Press, $18.99) is a book for young Black boys and for their mothers. It’s a hope inside a prayer that the world treats a child gently, and it could make a great baby shower gift.

If someone said you couldn’t do something that you were clearly able to do, would you fight to do it anyhow? In the new book, “Remember Her Name! Debbie Allen’s Rise to Fame” by Tami Charles, illustrated by Meredith Lucius (Charlesbridge, $17.99), a young girl in the Jim Crow South is told that she can’t dance because of the color of her skin.

She didn’t listen, though, and neither did her mother, who took her daughter to Mexico, where the girl soared! This is an inspiration for any 5-to-7-year-old; be sure to check out the back-of-the-book information, if you’re an adult fan.

Do you often hear your elders say things that sound like lessons? They might be, so “Where There is Love: A Story of African Proverbs” by Shauntay Grant, illustrated by Leticia Moreno (Penguin Workshop, $18.99) is a book you’ll like. It’s a quick-to-read collection of short proverbs that you can say every day. Kids ages 4-to-6 will easily remember what they find in this book; again, look in the back for more information.

Surely, you love your neighborhood, which is why the tale inside “Main Street: A Community Story about Redlining” by Britt Hawthorne and Tiffany Jewell, illustrated by David Wilkerson (Penguin Kokila, $18.99) is a book for you.

Olivia’s neighborhood is having a block party, but she’s sad when no one shows up. That’s when she learns that “the government” is discriminating against the people and businesses near where she lives. So, what can she and her neighbors do? The answer might inspire 6-to-8-year-old kids to stand up to wrongs they see, and to help make their neighborhoods stronger and safer.

And finally, if a kid wants a book, where can they go to find it? In “I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy” by Mychal Threets, illustrated by Lorraine Nam (Random House, $18.99) is a good introduction to the best of what a library has to offer. The freedom to walk into a library and borrow a book is the theme here, as is the sheer happiness of being welcomed, no matter who you are. This is an easy book for kids as young as two and as old as five to enjoy.

On that note, if you want more, head to that library, or a nearby bookstore. They’ll be glad to see you. They’ve got stories to share.

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Art of the African Diaspora Celebrates Legacy and Community at Richmond Art Center

Published

1 week ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

‘Be Still...’ by Virginia Jourdan is on display at the Richmond Art Center (RAC), in Richmond, CA. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The 2026 Art of the African Diaspora exhibition is on display at the Richmond Art Center (RAC) through March 14. The one-room gallery bursts with more than 100 works – paintings, photographs, sculptures, and mixed-media pieces – each affirming the power, beauty, and vitality of cultural expression across the African diaspora.

Now in its 29th year, Art of the African Diaspora is the Bay Area’s longest-running exhibition of its kind. Its roots stretch back to 1989, when artist and educator Marie Johnson Calloway founded Colors of Black, a salon for African American artists. That gathering inspired artists Jan Hart-Schuyers and Rae Louise Hayward to establish The Art of Living Black at the Richmond Art Center in 1996. Their vision was to showcase the creativity of emerging and established Black artists, bridging communities and widening access to audiences historically excluded from mainstream art spaces.

Over the decades, that founding vision has expanded and evolved, carried forward by artists, family members, and the Richmond Art Center after the loss of Hart-Schuyers and Hayward. In 2018, a new generation of artists formed a steering committee to organize the event; a year later, the exhibition was renamed Art of the African Diaspora to embrace the broader global connections of people of African descent.

The new name reflects not only a broader cultural lens but also an empowered community network that supports artists across the Bay Area. As part of this year’s programming, RAC will host ‘Art of the African Diaspora: Public Art in Our Communities,’ a free panel on Sat., Feb. 21, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Artists Kristine Mays, James Moore, and Malik Seneferu will join arts administrator Denise Pate for a conversation on the impact and process of public art. The discussion will be moderated by longtime arts advocate and producer Flo Wiley.

Each panelist brings a distinctive voice to the conversation. Mays, known for her ethereal wire sculptures that capture movement and spirit, has exhibited internationally and is represented in collections ranging from the Smithsonian to the Crocker Art Museum.

Sculptor and painter James Moore creates abstract metal works and colorful field paintings that explore movement, balance, and emotion. His recent public art installations include large-scale pieces in Richmond’s Shields-Reid Park. Malik Seneferu, a self-taught San Francisco native, has built a large body of work celebrating African American life through vibrant murals and expressive figurative art.

Representing the institutional side, Denise Pate oversees public arts investments as director of Community Investments at the San Francisco Arts Commission, advancing racial and cultural equity through funding and advocacy. Together, these artists and administrators will trace how public art emerges, from concept to community collaboration, and why it matters.

The Art of the African Diaspora exhibition runs through March 14 at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. The center is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission and programs are free and open to the public.