Semfilms

The democracy that the first president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, introduced was followed by almost three decades of dictatorship under Blaise Compaoré. With the inauguration of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in 2015, Burkina Faso finally has a democratically elected president again. According to rapper, poet and activist Serge Bambara, the country is now in a transitional period. Sankara's democratic ideals have received fresh impetus, but what does the hope for a working democracy mean when it has already been systematically destroyed in the past? As 'Smockey', Bambara records socially-conscious rap in line with his political activism. Uncertainty awaits Kaboré's presidency and Smockey monitors it all.

Jihadist violence has been on the rise in Burkina Faso since 2012, and it has had devastating effects (relocation, poverty, famine, decline of tourism) that director Seidou Samba Touré candidly explores by filming Burkinabe villagers with his camera.