Timbuktu

Near the Malian city of Timbuktu, religious extremists have taken control and imposed their strict interpretation of Sharia on the inhabitants. Music, laughter, smoking and football are banned, women are forced to cover themselves, and improvised courts hand down harsh sentences every day. Outside the city, the cattleman Kidane lives in the dunes with his wife Satima, their daughter Toya and a twelve-year-old herder, keeping his distance from the occupation. Their isolation ends when Kidane kills a fisherman named Amadou, who had slaughtered his favourite cow. He must then answer to the new authorities and their laws.

Abderrahmane Sissako directed the film and wrote the screenplay with Kessen Tall. It is a French production, and among the director's features it comes after his 2014 work of the same title in the chronological record and before Black Tea. The cast includes Ibrahim Ahmed as Kidane, Toulou Kiki as Satima, Layla Walet Mohamed as Toya, Abel Jafri as Abdelkrim, Kettly Noël as Zabou and Hichem Yacoubi as a jihadist.

The film runs 96 minutes and belongs to the drama and war genres. Its worldwide box office reached about 1 million USD, a modest theatrical return. On TMDB it holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from 526 votes, indicating a generally favourable audience response.