Cinema
Le Médecin de Gafiré
Moustapha Diop · 1982
Synopsis
Karunga, a young doctor trained in Europe, is posted to the dispensary at Gafiré, a bush village where Ouba, a renowned healer, has always treated the sick. The doctor at first takes this man for a charlatan and competes with him for patients, while the villagers keep going to the healer. The confrontation between the two kinds of knowledge, that of the schools and that of the bush, becomes the heart of the story.
Context
The film was co-produced by Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, shot in sixteen millimetre, and distributed in Europe by the Cinémathèque Afrique. Sidiki Bakaba, Merlin N'Diagne, Sotigui Kouyaté and Djingarey Maïga are in the cast. The reference print is in Bambara with subtitles, and a version appeared in Italy under an Italian title. The sources contradict one another on the date: 1982 for the production, 2 January 1983 for a release, 1984 in the catalogue, the last being retained here for lack of agreement between them.
Who it is for
One hour thirty-three. Nothing is required to follow it, except to accept that the story grants the healer real powers instead of reducing him to an impostor.
Prizes and reception
Grand prize of the Francophonie agency at Carthage, grand prizes at Mannheim and Perugia in 1984, critics' prize at Locarno in 1985.