A Golden Life (2023)

  • Africa, Globalisation, Society, Youth

DESCRIPTION

In Burkina Faso, in the gold-digging site of Bantara, Rasmané, 16 years old, descends more than 100 meters deep in artisanal mines to extract gold. Anxious about accidents, Rasmané makes his way in this world of fierce adults in the hope of one day becoming emancipated…

REVIEWS & NEWS

“The special thing about this documentary is the total lack of any sense of voyeurism. The camera seems to be completely absorbed within the society. It observes without judgment and pursues no effect.” Nicole Sante, Business Doc Europe, 20.2.2023

Filmotor picks up Berlinale Forum title A Golden Life , Business Doc Europe, 15.3.2023

A Deadly Haunting: When industry colonizes not just land, but minds and sonic space, Arsenal, Uhuru Portia Phalafala

5 Must Sees at Movies That Matter 2023, ZAM Report, 13.3.2023

“But this is not a film about global injustices or even the hardships that African kids have to endure in order to have a relatively decent life. Rather, it is about coming of age, and it is easy to see that Bolo and his friends are no different from their peers around the world, except that they have had to grow up much faster than many. This is why the documentary has few amplitudes within its emotional register, but it makes up for it with its in-depth portrait of the central protagonist and well-researched social picture.” Review: A Golden Life – Cineuropa, Vladan Petkovic, 3.4.2023

DIRECTED BY
Boubacar Sangare, Burkina Faso, Benin, France, 2023, 85´
Distribution, TV & VOD
TV 5 Monde, TRT (Turkey), kweli TV (North America), Verzio VOD (Hungary), Canada: Cinema a la Carte
Festivals
Berlin IFF 2023 - Forum, FESPACO, Movies that Matter, Koudougou Doc, STLOUIS'DOCS Senegal, FICMEC Tenerife, Innsbruck IFF, Docs Ireland, Giffoni IFF, Camden IFF, HRFF Lugano, Planet in Focus Toronto
Awards
FICMEC - Special Mention & Audience Award, Stlouis'Docs - Special Mention, Winner of Maysles Brothers Competition for the Best Observational Documentary at Docs Ireland, Winner of the Human Rights Dox Competition at Doku Fest Kosovo, Lessinia Film Festival - Prize from the Curatorium Cimbricum Veronense in memory of Piero Piazzola and Mario Pigozzi for the best film by a young director, Camden IFF - special mention at the Harrell Competition, Terra di Tutti - special mention, Best film of the international competition - Verzio HRFF Budapest, Best film at Ismailia Documentary Film Festival, MAIN PRIZE OF DOCU/WORLD COMPETITION 2024 at Docu Days Ukraine & Special Mention at RIGHTS NOW! COMPETITION 2024 Docu Days UA, Best Documentary - RED LINE Film Festival (ITA)
TERRITORIES
World except of France
DIRECTOR BIO

Boubacar Sangaré is a filmmaker, author and director, from Burkina Faso. He directed 4 short films and co-directed a feature documentary for TV.

A Golden Life is his first feature documentary for cinema. He is currently developing several other projects: including the road movie documentary Djéliya, Memory of Manding (selected for La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde, in Cannes Film Festival 2022, Miradas Doc and Hot Docs Forum) and two feature-length fiction films: Le nom qu’on te donne and Les dieux délinquants.

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