THE FORGOTTEN ONES

A journey to the heart of Mali’s broken peace

A documentary film by Ousmane Samassekou

  • Synopsis

Following the occupation of northern Mali by armed groups in 2012, various foreign forces tried to put an end to the violence: a peace agreement was signed. But reconciliation on the ground hasn’t happened, tensions between communities have worsened, and it is the center of the country that is burning today.

Sory, a young Malian journalist, undertakes to visit his fisherman uncle in Kouakourou, a Bozo village located on the banks of the Niger River near Mopti. But he can no longer access to the family’s village because of the current clashes in the center of Mali. Sory decides to return to Bamako, where the revolt is now brewing…

THE FORGOTTEN ONES is a journey to the heart of a country adrift, in search of hope and peace for Mali.

  • Biofilmography : Ousmane Samassekou, 32 y.o.

Trained at the Conservatory of Arts in Bamako and the Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis in Senegal, he has since worked at DS Production in Bamako. In 2014, he is the prize-winner of the writing training of the French Institute of Mali. In 2015, he won the Best Screenplay award at Clap Ivoire for his short film A confession. In 2016, he directed his first documentary film Les Héritiers de la colline produced by Label Vidéo (France) and DS Production (Mali). In 2018, he took part in the Fabrique des cinemas du monde in Cannes. He also engages with SAHELIEN (Mali), a news information website in Sahel, as writer and director of THE FORGOTTEN ONES, on the ongoing crisis in Mali, co-produced by L’ECHANGEUR.

TECHNICAL ELEMENTS

Genre: documentary
Expected duration: 52’
State: shooting to complete, editing to achieve
Shooting format: FHD 16/9 color – 2.0 / 5.1
Dialogues: bamana, french, fulani, bozo, tamasheq
Versions: french, english, arabic

Direction & photography: Ousmane Samassekou
Photography: Ousmane Samassekou
Narration: Sory Kondo
Sound: Jean de Dieu Brou
Production Mali: Abdoul Salam Hama
Production France: Julien Fiorentino

A documentary film produced by Sahelien.com (Mali) & L’Echangeur

Broadcasters: Renouveau TV (Mali)

With the participation of
Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)
Francophony Audiovisual Fund (OIF)
UN Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)

Project selected at MEDIMED 2020

Project selected at MIRADAS DOC 2020

Project selected at DURBAN FilmMart 2020

Looking for : broadcasters & postproduction funding

-> Rough cut available on demand

Contact : lechangeur@gmail.com