Film w Glissa Screening: Xaraasi Xanne
École Supérieure des Arts Visuels
A film by Raphaël Grisey and Bouba Touré
(2022)
Using rare cinematic, photographic and sound archives, Xaraasi Xanne (Crossing Voices) recounts the exemplary adventure of Somankidi Coura, an agricultural cooperative created in Mali in 1977 by western African immigrant workers living in workers’ residences in France. The story of this improbable, utopic return to the homeland follows a winding path that travels through the ecological challenges and conflicts on the African continent from the 1970s to the present day. To tell this story, Bouba Touré, one of its principal actors, returns to the heart of his personal archives. They document peasant struggles in France and Mali as well as following the personal stories of migrant workers over many decades. Furthermore, the film is a story of transmission, kinship and cinematographic geographies. Throughout the film, voices come to accompany Bouba and bring forth the narrative of a forgotten memory leading towards the future.
Xaraasi Xanne (Crossing Voices) was selected for screening by Mamadou Khouma Gueye in conversation with Film w Glissa in response to a prompt of thinking through the notion of equity over equality, and also questions of documenting nature through radical forms.
Film w Glissa is a platform and program dedicated to the distribution of independent films from the so-called “Global South” and its diaspora. Through screenings, discussions, and workshops, the platform fosters exchange around cinematographic creation, exploring its diverse forms and themes. By building our program in dialogue with other collectives from the “Global South” and its diaspora, we seek to create creative bridges, allowing films and ideas to travel while encouraging reciprocal learning.