Watch Free | 4K Restored Version of “Samba Traoré” (1992)

Shortly after winning the Grand Prix at Cannes with The Law (1990), Burkinabe writer-director Idrissa Ouédraogo, one of the masters of African cinema and a key figure in the development of cinema in that region, followed up that dazzling work with the remarkable Samba Traoré in 1992, which won him the Silver Bear at the Berlinale. This "moral thriller, more crime and history than crime and punishment” (Filipe Furtado) is about a man returning to his village with a suitcase of stolen cash, and the spiralling consequences – from his wife, his family, the entire village – of his deception as to its origin. “Ouédraogo isn’t interested in a character study or psychology, but in describing Samba,” writes Furtado. “His new life, his village, his actions have weight, but it is the weight of responsibility for what is still to come.” The suitcase of cash, which he uses to invest in the village and improve his standing among his friends and family, is a symbol of the poisoned chalice that is living in the modern world; Samba’s weakness and cowardice is everybody’s weakness and cowardice, and though we pity him when he acts in desperation, we also understand it.

It is, in a direct yet poetic way, about the conflicts between city and rural life, modernity and tradition in Burkina Faso. “Ouedraogo’s storytelling has a magical quality, but here the characters and setting are thoroughly modern,” the African Film Festival of New York called it. Gina Telaroli, writing for Film Comment, described it as a “taut study of guilt”, while Sight & Sound asserted, in a lengthy obituary from 2018, that Ouédraogo's “contribution to the cinema was monumental.” “One of the great classics of my life,” said Queer and Challengers director Luca Guadagnino. “I will never forget when I saw this movie [for the first time], from one of the greatest directors of all time.” Indisputably one of the essential films of the '90s, Ouédraogo's masterpiece has finally been restored to a state that befits its greatness, enabling its continued appreciation around the world.

Now free to watch until June 6, this extraordinary work was painstakingly restored in 4K and presented at the 77th edition of our Festival thanks to Locarno Pro’s Heritage Online program and the unparalleled expertise of our long-standing restoration partner Cinegrell. Samba Traoré is made available online as part of our ongoing commitment to making our restorations of heritage cinema freely accessible around the world, and in the future more and more films will be made available via our online platform.