Mali Twist

• Robert Guédiguian
• 129 min
• France, Canada, Senegal, Italy, Mali
• 2021
• Fiction

Marseille regular Guédiguian leaves France for the febrile atmosphere in Bamako, the capital of Mali, right after independence during the first half of the 1960s.

It is 1960 in Bamako and the young people are dancing the Twist, listening to rock’n’roll, dreaming about political renaissance, and praising their ideological ideal Lumumba and Ho Chi-Minh. But decolonialization is complicated, and the interests of many, both private and public, must be satisfied. Amidst the turmoil, a young socialist, Samba, falls for Lara, who is in an arranged marriage situation. With Mali Twist, Guédiguian (Lady Jane, GFF 2009; The House by the Sea, GFF 2018) gives us a political-historical lesson dressed as a powerful love story. Not least is it important with the alarming recent development in Mali in mind.

- Freddy Olsson

• Drama
• Kolonialism
• Politik
• Musik