Cinema
Le Truc de Konaté
Fanta Régina Nacro · 1998
Synopsis
Diénéba comes back to the village with her arms full of gifts after a stay with her cousin in Ouagadougou: kola nuts, wrappers and, for her husband Konaté, condoms. Furious, Konaté refuses to change his habits, and Diénéba, who knows what AIDS does, refuses herself to him. Konaté goes to see another woman and discovers that he has become impotent; he blames it on the thing from the city, and a fetish priest sends him to look for a magic tree that would produce condoms.
Context
The film runs thirty-three minutes. Its maker, who had seen several close ones die of AIDS, trained with Aides in Paris and wanted a film that helps people reflect and prevent rather than frighten them. It was later used by AIDS organisations in many African countries, and viewers, she said, ran to buy le truc de Konaté at the pharmacy. Sources date it to 1997 or 1998.
Who it is for
A half-hour comic short film that can be shown to any audience: the light tone serves a serious subject.
Prizes and reception
Bronze Tanit at Carthage in 1998, special mention of the jury at Clermont-Ferrand and three prizes at the Ouagadougou festival in 1999.