Discussion Guide
GLOBAL LENS 2006
The Global Film Initiative
Promoting Cross-Cultural Understanding
Through Cinema
The Night of Truth
Each year The Global Film Initiative selects films
from developing countries to be presented through
the Global Lens series, in collaboration with
museums, film societies and other cultural
institutions across America. The Global Film
Initiative is pleased to share The Night of Truth, a
film that tells a powerful, universal story of truth
and reconciliation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ONE PAGE SUMMARY: The Night of Truth
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
FILM AESTHETICS
NARRATIVE THEMES IN THE FILM
The Night of Truth (La Nuit de la Verité), 2005,
Burkina Faso
Directed by Fanta Régina Nacro
In French, Mooré and Dioula, with subtitles in
English, 100 minutes
ABOUT SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Statistics and map
Background
GLOBAL LENS PARTNERS
PAST AND PRESENT
©2006 The CW Film Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Global Film Initiative
200 Varick Street New York, NY 10014
phone 212.206.7790
www.globalfilm.org
The Night of Truth
Page 2
ONE PAGE SUMMARY:
The Night of Truth (La Nuit de la Verité), 2005, Burkina Faso
Directed by Fanta Régina Nacro
In French, Mooré and Dioula, with subtitles in English, 100 minutes
SYNOPSIS
Ten years of civil war in an imaginary country in Africa, between Nayak government forces and the
opposition Bonandés, are finally over. The president of the country and the rebel leader agree to a
reconciliation, to be celebrated at a feast in the Bonandé village. When the peace agreement is signed,
soldiers on both sides will lay down their arms.
After ten years of atrocities, the proposed night of reconciliation is an ambitious challenge. The
president’s own son was murdered in the war, and the rebel leader is haunted by the memory of his
own actions. Will the attempt at reconciliation bring understanding – or revenge?
Precautions are taken to keep the celebration peaceful. Drums that usually would accompany the
dancers are banned; it was the beating of drums that led to one of the worst slaughters of the war. The
feast is prepared and the evening’s events are scheduled with care. The people of the Bonandé village
cautiously welcome the president and the Nayak soldiers. Speeches are made, toasts are offered, and
food is served. Suddenly, the fragile peace is shattered by the beat of the drums, and the night of
reconciliation becomes a night of bloodshed.
CHARACTERS
The President
Edna
Colonel Theo
Soumari
Tomoto
Head of the government, leader of the Nayak people
The president’s wife
Leader of the Bonandé people
Colonel Theo’s wife
Bonandé village entertainer
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. The Colonel’s wife explains to her children
that civil war is like a parent punishing a
child who has done something wrong. We
are at war, she explains, but then we kiss
and it’s over. How would YOU explain
civil war ? Why do you think the Nayaks
and Bonandés were at war?
2. The president and Colonel Theo are
committed to peace even though no one
else thinks peace between Nayaks and
Bonandés is possible. What do you think
are the president’s motives for peace?
Colonel Theo’s?
©2006 The CW Film Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Global Film Initiative
200 Varick Street New York, NY 10014
phone 212.206.7790
www.globalfilm.org
The Night of Truth
Page 3
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: FANTA RÉGINA NACRO
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
“ . . . all humans have their dark side and their human side, and that if one is not vigilant then the dark
side can easily take over." The title of the film, The Night of Truth, "refers to that moment when
individuals discover their true selves, their interior selves. To make a universal statement, it was
important to go beyond a particular location - people would say, 'That's what you expect, they are
barbaric, that is how "other" people behave.' Whereas if it is universalized, then you can't put it to one
side in the same way.
Sierra Leone, Liberia, Sudan or the Ivory Coast, all these countries – as well as Armenia, Chechnya
and contemporary Israel – played a part in her vision for the film. But, perhaps more surprisingly, her
overriding inspiration was the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. “Yugoslavia was the point of departure in
the sense that the testimonies and reports of atrocities, in particular in cases of women being raped and
having acid poured into their vaginas, women being made to watch the murder of their families and
husbands, that provoked my thinking about atrocities in more general terms. After the war in
Yugoslavia, I hoped that the whole world would realise this kind of violence is not restricted to the
black peoples of Africa.”
"Yugoslavia was the point of departure in the sense that the testimonies and reports of atrocities, in
particular in cases of women being raped and having acid poured into their vaginas, women being
made to watch the murder of their families and husbands, that provoked my thinking about atrocities in
more general terms. After the war in Yugoslavia, I hoped that the whole world would realize this kind
of violence is not restricted to the black peoples of Africa.
“I had long struggles with my cinematographer, to get him not to look for the perfect shot, the perfect
light, the beautifully composed image - because that was not what I needed. What I wanted was the
reality of things, to capture the immediacy of things even if they weren't beautiful.
"Wherever I've shown the film - whether in San Sebastian, in France, Palestine or in the United States,
or even at the Cambridge film festival - the audience's reaction has been to find something in it that
mirrors their own experiences. People have started watching it as if it were simply an African film, and
then slowly, with the development of the story, they start to think about their own difficulties of
resolving conflict."
(Source: Fanta Régina Nacro interviewed by Lisa Allardice, “The Dead Are Everywhere,” in Guardian Unlimited,
September 5, 2005)
BIOGRAPHY
Fanta Régina Nacro studied at INAFEC, the national film school of Burkina Faso,
and earned master’s degrees in film and audiovisual studies at the Sorbonne in Paris.
She was the first woman director in Burkina Faso. Among her 17 short films are Un
Certain Matin (1992). Among her 17 short films are Puk Nini (1995), Le Truk de Konaté
(1998), and Bintou (2001). The Night of Truth is her first feature film.
©2006 The CW Film Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Global Film Initiative
200 Varick Street New York, NY 10014
phone 212.206.7790
www.globalfilm.org
The Night of Truth
Page 4
FILM AESTHETICS
Film is unique as an art form in its synthesis of visual arts, writing, drama, movement, and sound. The
following notes about film aesthetics and technique suggest some things to watch and listen for in
viewing The Night of Truth.
Dialogue
Words expressed by the characters, who may be
in conversation, talking to themselves, or
thinking out loud. Dialogue can also be
delivered by an unseen narrative voice-over.
Dialogue serves several functions:
!
Explains events leading up to the present,
sets the scene
!
Develops the characters – through
interaction with other characters, or through
reflection, stream of thought
!
Illuminates a theme – expresses a source of
conflict, a key motivation in the story
Narrative Structure
The narrative structure of the film establishes the
major themes in the story, answering the
question, “what is this story about?” Watch for:
!
Contradictions and conflicts that give texture
and meaning to events in the story
!
Structural elements that divide the movie into
“acts” – introduction, conflict, climax,
resolution.
Music and Sound
Music can be used to intensify the action or
dialogue in a scene. At its best, music combines
with images to create an experience beyond what
either could create alone.
Natural sounds can add a dimension of reality –
or heighten the unreality of a scene. Offscreen
sounds, such as traffic noise or gunshots – can
establish narrative elements that intensify the
action in the scene.
The conflict between the Nayaks and Bonandes is between a
ruling party with money and resources, and rebels inspired by
their leader’s ideals. This conflict is personified in the
dialogue of the president and Colonel Theo, the rebel leader.
The president says he is a pragmatic man; he speaks in short
sentences about everyone helping to rebuild the country .
Colonel Theo speaks in poems and images, comparing the
power he never wanted with the destruction of a hurricane.
His idealistic poem, “The Crossing,” long outlives the
Colonel, as a penmanship lesson for children.
The story begins and ends in cemeteries – where the dead
should be at rest. In the opening scene, the Nayak president’s
son, Michel, appears to his grieving mother, running carefree
among the graves as she calls his name. Until his blood is
avenged, she says, Michel will never be at rest. This conflict
torments both Nayaks and Bonandés – is reconciliation
possible while the dead still walk among the living?
The story ends in a new cemetery, with fresh graves prepared
after the tragic events of the night. Two bodies are placed in
each grave – one Nayak and one Bonandé – a strong symbol
that in death there may finally be peace.
The beating of the big drums is a powerful symbol to both
Nayaks and Bonandés – an invitation for young and old to a
feast. During the war, the Bonandés drumbeat was a
betrayal, luring the Nayaks to the slaughter at Govinda, in
which even children were murdered. The big drums must be
silent on the night of the feast, the colonel’s wife tells the
musicians, so we don’t wake sleeping dogs.
When the vengeful Bonandé entertainer beats the big drum
that night, he knows it will revive the nightmare of that
slaughter for everyone who hears it – and still he beats the
drum, his eyes wild as he shouts, “like Govinda! Like
Govinda!”
©2006 The CW Film Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Global Film Initiative
200 Varick Street New York, NY 10014
phone 212.206.7790
www.globalfilm.org
The Night of Truth
Page 5
NARRATIVE THEMES IN THE FILM THE NIGHT OF TRUTH
Fanta Régina Nacro says the title, The Night of Truth, “refers to that moment when individuals discover
their true selves, their interior selves.” It was the genocidal war in the former states of Yugoslavia, not
in Africa, which inspired her to tell create this film.
Watch for scenes or events that correspond to a particular theme, making mental or written notes as to
how the theme unfolds in the film. Note whether the film developed the theme as expected, and if not,
what happened instead. Questions for each theme are designed to encourage discussion.
The Aftermath of War
1. Tomoto is chased off the road by the president’s motorcade, which speeds away, leaving him
shaking his fist and shouting threats. “The Colonel has fooled you,” he shouts as the cars disappear
down the road, “but not me!” How would you describe the character Tomoto? What does he
mean when he shouts “the Colonel has fooled you”?
2. The rebel major tells Soumari that war is “useful” – he says her father, the pacifist, “never got
through peaceful protest what we won through armed struggle.” Soumari replies, “Is that what you
think? And how many men did you kill? You just won a land of the living dead – my father never
wanted that!” What does she mean by “a land of the living dead”? How is this scene important
to the story?
3. The women and children in the Bonandé village tell and retell their stories of how they were
tortured and mutilated by the Nayak soldiers. “They cut off my leg to make me stop running,” says
one girl. “Thank God they cut off only one.” How do you interpret these conversations? How
does the film portray the impact of ten years of war on the women? On the children?
Making Peace
4. The president phones at the last minute to say that he is bringing armed troops. “You don’t trust us
or what?” shouts Colonel Theo into the phone. “It’s not in your interest not to have peace!” Why
do you think the president decides to bring armed troops to a night of reconciliation? Why do
you think Colonel Theo agrees?
5. Early in the evening, fighting breaks out between Nayak soldiers and the rebel troops. Later, both
sides refuse to share in the feast and drinking. “The dead are all around us,” they say – they don’t
want their fellow soldiers to have died in vain. Soumari pours out the ceremonial drink on the
ground, saying, “Our dead will wander no more. And your dead are welcome here too.” How
would you interpret Soumari’s actions? the soldier’s responses? How is this scene important to
the story?
©2006 The CW Film Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Global Film Initiative
200 Varick Street New York, NY 10014
phone 212.206.7790
www.globalfilm.org
The Night of Truth
Page 6
Truth and Madness
6. Edna tells the president from the beginning that she can’t go to the feast in the Bonandé village – she
cannot eat with the murderers of her son. The president insists – he tells her that Colonel Theo
himself asked that she be there. How would you explain Colonel Theo’s state of mind in asking
Edna to attend? How would you describe Edna’s state of mind? How do you think the film
portrays “truth”?
7. The president comments that Colonel Theo has often been in “a position of power” – but that he
never takes his power to the full extent. The president asks, why not? Colonel Theo says it’s
because he has seen a hurricane – how the cool wind and rain at the beginning turn into a
destructive wind that rips off roofs and wrecks everything. “We forget why we’re fighting,” he says.
“Daily we trample our ideal . . . it’s madness! So it has to be stopped by any possible means.” How
would you describe these two leaders – the president and Colonel Theo? What do you think
Colonel Theo means when he says he has “seen a hurricane”?
Symbols and Reconciliation
8. We must create a strong symbol, says the president the next day. We’re going to bury our dead
together, one each, in each grave. How is the president portrayed in the film? How would you
compare the president’s actions with the “strong symbol” he says his country will need?
9. The film ends with a classroom full of children writing out the words of Colonel Theo, in his
message called “The Crossing:” We’re from the same clay. We have lived through the same nightmares.
We have endured the same suffering. In truth I tell you, I won’t forget you. Your pain is my pain, because the
memories live within us, and we all belong to the big day. How do you interpret this message? Why do
you think the message is titled, The Crossing?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Sub-Saharan Africa: history
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index.shtml
http://www.unsystem.org/scn/archives/rnis09/ch3.htm
CIA World Factbook: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/xx.html
Maps of Africa: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa.html
Africa: A Biography of the Continent, John Reader, Vintage Books, New York, 1999.
A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa, Howard French, Vintage Books, New
York, 2004.
History of Africa, Kevin Shillington, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1995.
©2006 The CW Film Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Global Film Initiative
200 Varick Street New York, NY 10014
phone 212.206.7790
www.globalfilm.org
The Night of Truth
Page 7
PROFILE OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
This region extends 15 degrees to the north
and south of the equator; 2,071 miles from
the Sahara to the southern border of Angola,
and 4,434 miles from the western coast of
Senegal to the eastern coast of Somalia.
OVERALL POPULATION: 658.58
million in 38 countries. The most populous
is Nigeria, with 128.8 million people; the
most densely populated is Rwanda, with 8.4
million people, even after decades of
genocide, in an area slightly larger than
Maryland (CIA, July 2005)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: From 34 to 59
years; average of 48 years. Leading causes of
death: war and ethnic fighting; starvation,
especially among refugees displaced by civil
war and ethnic conflicts; very high risk of
infectious diseases, such as malaria, bacterial
diarrhea, hepatitis, typhoid fever, and
meningitis. HIV/AIDS affects up to 10% of
the population in the countries of this region.
ETHNICITY: The Bantu-speaking people
in sub-Saharan Africa originated in the
Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.
region that is now Nigeria and Cameroon.
Over the centuries, Bantu-speaking people migrated first to the east, and then south and southwest,
building farms and villages. Today there are two or more ethnic groups speaking Bantu-based languages in
every country in this region. Ethnic Arab and European populations are relatively scarce.
RELIGIONS: Predominantly Christian (Catholic and Protestant) and indigenous beliefs in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (the DR Congo), Angola, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Kenya, and Uganda,
countries with long histories of European domination. Countries bordering the Sahara, including Chad,
Sudan, Senegal, Nigeria and Somalia, are more than 50% Muslim.
NATURAL RESOURCES: Minerals (including copper, uranium, iron ore, cobalt and platinum) – the
DR Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Oil – Nigeria, Angola, Sao Tome and
Principe, and Gabon. Diamonds – Sierra Leone, Angola and the DR Congo. Arable land – the Niger
River delta in Mali, Rwanda and the highlands of Kenya.
CLIMATE: The climate is generally tropical. The Sahara extends southward into Mali, Nigeria, Sudan
and Chad, where the climate is semi-arid to arid, some areas experiencing a decline in rainfall by as much
as 30% in the past 30 years. The DR Congo and the Republic of the Congo, along the equator, have a hot
and rainy climate. Eastern coastal countries such as Somalia and Kenya are threatened by cyclones
generated over the Indian Ocean, causing flooding and landslides.
©2006 The CW Film Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Global Film Initiative
200 Varick Street New York, NY 10014
phone 212.206.7790
www.globalfilm.org
The Night of Truth
Page 8
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA IN THE 20TH CENTURY: THE STRUGGLE TO EMERGE FROM
COLONIAL RULE
BACKGROUND In the late 19th century, the governments of Britain, Portugal, Germany, France and
Belgium divided the continent of Africa into 46 states, drawing arbitrary boundaries, through farms, villages
and ethnic territories, cutting off rivers, roads and railways, in deals meant to expand their empires and
build wealth. Although the Europeans expressed their intentions to build schools, hospitals, roads,
economies and legal systems for their African subjects, in practice the colonial governments continued many
of the brutal practices of the past, using forced labor to extract and haul the continent’s wealth of minerals,
gold and diamonds to port, for shipment to distant markets.
Independence movements that emerged across the continent of Africa in the first half of the 20th century
were sustained by decades of frustration and rage, and inspired by the example of India, under the
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. After two world wars, the Europeans had neither resources nor energy to
cope with resistance, and one after another they abandoned their colonial holdings, often destroying
property as they rushed to leave. Much of sub-Saharan Africa collapsed into civil war soon after the
Europeans left, lasting in some cases for thirty years or more.
THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE BECOMES A STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE Decades of
civil war and ethnic fighting decimated the economies and natural resources of sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria
suffered the overthrow of five governments in 20 years, including the civil war that began with creation of
the new state of Biafra, as ethnic groups scrambled for power and resources.
As many as 1.5 million people were killed in civil war in Sudan, between the Muslim government and
Christians in the south. The humanitarian crisis continues in the western region of Darfur, where hundreds
of thousands of displaced people suffer in refugee camps.
The worst genocide since the second World War occurred in Rwanda. Hutus and Tutsis had shared rich
farmland for centuries, working together and intermarrying. The Belgian colonial government favored the
Tutsis as “more European,” giving them authority over the Hutus, more than 90% of the population. In the
weeks before evacuating Rwanda in 1961, the Belgians sought to redress this wrong, suddenly removing the
Tutsis from their elite jobs and replacing them with Hutus. Decades of resentment exploded as Hutus
murdered Tutsis, and 200,000 Tutsis fled to Burundi. In the 1990s, the Tutsis retaliated, murdering Hutus
by the hundreds of thousands. As many as two million Hutus fled to Zaire (now the DR Congo). The
Tutsis pursued them, expanding the war into Zaire.
Since 1960, even relatively stable countries such as Senegal have struggled to provide food and medical aid
to huge populations of refugees. Without the basic necessities of food, water and shelter, people grow
weaker and more susceptible to disease every day their needs are not met. Prices for major exports (other
than oil) have collapsed, leaving few reliable sources of commerce. Countries rich in natural resources are
starving to death, leaving no one to farm, build roads, raise children, teach, or work in the mines.
©2006 The CW Film Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Global Film Initiative
200 Varick Street New York, NY 10014
phone 212.206.7790
www.globalfilm.org
The Night of Truth
Page 9
GLOBAL FILM INITIATIVE PARTNERS PAST AND PRESENT
BOSTON
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
CHICAGO
CINEMA CHICAGO
CHICAGO
THE GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER
CLEVELAND
THE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART
COLUMBUS
WEXNER CENTER FOR THE ARTS
DENVER
DENVER FILM SOCIETY
HONOLULU
HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS
HOUSTON
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
LOS ANGELES
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS
MADISON
UW-MADISON ARTS INSTITUTE
MIAMI
MIAMI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
MINNEAPOLIS
WALKER ART CENTER
NEW YORK
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
OKLAHOMA CITY OKLAHOMA CITY MUSEUM OF ART
PALM SPRINGS
PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
PORTLAND
NORTHWEST FILM CENTER
SALT LAKE CITY
SALT LAKE CITY FILM CENTER
SAN FRANCISCO
SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE
SAN RAFAEL
SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER
SARASOTA
SARASOTA FILM SOCIETY
SEATTLE
SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
For information on dates when Global Lens will be in these cities,
please visit our website www.globalfilm.org
The Global Film Initiative is a 501(c)3 organization, founded in 2002 with the mission
to promote cross-cultural understanding through the international medium of cinema.
©2006 The CW Film Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Global Film Initiative
200 Varick Street New York, NY 10014
phone 212.206.7790
www.globalfilm.org