AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL NEW ZEALAND

Synopsis

In this extraordinary modern rendering of Macbeth, director Dani Kouyate has combined both traditional and modern West African flavours to create the atmospheric tragedy that Shakespeare’s Macbeth requires. Dani himself is a filmmaker, musician and storyteller from a lineage of Griots, traditional West African storytellers and keepers of history, as well as being a professor of Performing Arts at Uppsala University in Sweden. Who better to tell the story?! The storyline here is faithful to Shakespeare: Katanga (as Macbeth) is appointed army chief by his cousin, the king. He consults a soothsayer (in place of the three weird sisters) who reads his destiny in the sand, and from that moment……..well, we know the rest! The film was very popular at Fespaco 2025, and gained the highest award of best film of the festival.

Award: Yelenga Award, Best Film Fespaco, 2025