A review of the book “Biography of an African Heroine”: The Woman Who Stood Up to Jihadists

The film, which Burkina Faso submitted for the Oscars, focuses on the fate assigned to women by jihadist terrorists crossing the Sahel region.

Sera (Nfissatou Cisse) crosses part of the Sahel with her family, on the back of a camel, to find her fiancé, Jean Sidi (Abdermane Barry). The atmosphere is almost optimistic, despite the danger of the trip due to the presence of terrorists. In addition, Syra is Muslim like her father and the rest of her family. His right-hand man, Mustafa (Mike Danon), views Sera's union with a farmer, who is also a Christian, even if he is wealthy, with a very negative eye.

The worst will come soon. A group of jihadists storms a Bedouin camp and kills men and women. Sila, who opposes the leader of the raiders, Yer (Lazar Menongo), is raped by the latter and left to die in the sand. The 17-year-old gets up and walks. But her steps lead her to her attacker's military camp, where women are taken from their communities and raped daily. The girl who discovers her pregnancy decides to hide in the rocks overlooking the camp and steal water and supplies from the jihadists.

Sera lives in the shadow of terrorists, is pregnant, and also tries through nighttime incursions to convince the women to rebel against their captors.

Burkina Faso's submission to the Oscars (the film was not among the final selection of nominees), Sera is an African heroine The film, directed by Apolline Traoré, won the Panorama Audience Award at the 2023 Berlinale in addition to being screened at TIFF last year. The quality of the performances of some of the actors sometimes leaves something to be desired, and numerous textual errors prevent us from fully engaging in this proposal, which is nevertheless exceptional because it places women at the front of the stage, an aspect touched upon by the wonderful work. Timbuktu By Abderrahmane Sissako, who appeared in 2014.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Sera is an African heroine Takes stage 1^any February on screens across the province.