Al Djanat - The Original Paradise

In this earnest documentary, director Chloé Aïcha Boro returns to her home country of Burkina Faso to face the significant ramifications of her uncle dying. Static shots of her community reveal the growing rift between family members arguing about the deceased patriarch's property and ultimate legacy. This personal exploration of identity touches on the deep-rooted value of inheritance and shines a light on a culture torn in navigating the dynamics of tradition and modernity.

After her uncle Ousmane dies on a pilgrimage to Mecca, the filmmaker's family gather to discuss the future of his estate. Far from being just a housing complex, this large residence is a local place of worship. Once the all-male council assembles, the decision over the sharing of the inheritance becomes a mountain to climb. Boro lovingly uses the word tribe to describe the size of her extended family, signalling the importance and difficulty of splitting the land.

Between debates about religious integrity and familial responsibility, the sober but intimate camera work reveals a detail that sways the discussion towards a practical approach. Despite being an influential family, they suffer from financial insecurity. Selling the home becomes a heated issue, causing Ousmane's brothers and children to take legal action against each other. As the familial dispute progresses, Boro becomes the narrator, taking her time to explain the importance of her ancestral traditions.

The arrival of a newborn into the extended family imposes the performance of an enduring ritual: the burying of the umbilical cord in their courtyard. The delicate cinematic eye manifests the filmmaker's fondness for the custom, especially as she was robbed of it in her adopted country of France. She remains impartial in her visual language but feels compelled to insert her perspective on an issue that threatens the sacred integrity of her childhood home.

While the screen is often overwhelmed by the male family members, the female perspective is gracefully displayed in the background. They are mothers, homemakers and faithful ceremonial performers. A feeling of mutual appreciation emerges as they invite Boro to stand in front of the camera. As they sing her praises, her emotional voice pierces through the hearty visuals, entrusting her aunt with conflicting thoughts on success and kinship.

Boro constantly returns to the image of her uncle, attempting to understand the new world brought within her ancestral community by an inner dispute. Stories and dreams about Ousmane paint a picture of a bygone world where secular rule had little power over his home and its dwellers. Stepping for the first time into her uncle's bedroom, to store film equipment no less, the Burkinabè filmmaker stops at the threshold. Her static framing and sobering voice initiate an insightful discussion about traditional familial relations and set the scene for a sincere journey about the value of recognising a family as your own.