TAHAR CHERIAA co-founded the oldest film festival on the African continent, the Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage in Tunis, in 1966. As its artistic director for many years, he was one of the most important pioneers of independent African cinema, the legendary "Baobab Group". It consisted of directors such as Ousmane Sembène (Senegal), Moustapha Alassane (Niger), Med Hondo (Mauritania), Timité Bassori (Ivory Coast), Ferid Boughedir (Tunisia), Gaston Kaboré (Burkina Faso) and Haile Gerima (Ethiopia), whose films also received international attention. In Tunis, they also founded the association of filmmakers FEPACI.
OUAGA, CAPITALE DU CINÉMA: Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world, but also the city of FESPACO, the most important pan-African film festival. From 1983 to 1987, the city was also the scene of passionate political and cinematic utopias. After the young revolutionary president Thomas Sankara took power, the festival became a symbol for the cultural renaissance of an entire continent. Sankara's assassination stifled the hopes of millions of young Africans, but FESPACO and African cinema lived on ... In this film, Mohamed Challouf recounts this period ... with the participation of the most important African filmmakers.