Borders / Frontières

Interior of a crowded bus with passengers seated facing forward. The bus appears to be in motion, and the passengers are dressed in various colorful garments. Luggage is stored above the seats, and the windows are covered with curtains. The atmosphere see

On a bus en route from Dakar, Senegal, to Lagos, Nigeria, three women must band together as they navigate the risks that come with traveling alone while female, fighting back against threats of violence, sexual harassment, and government corruption at each border crossing. This inspiring drama from Burkinabé director, Apolline Traoré, pays tribute to the bravery of West African women asserting their independence in a patriarchal society.

Free admission. Sponsored by the Institute for African Development (IAD) at the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and supported by IAD's Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Languages (UISFL) Grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Film website: https://www.diffa.tv/frontieres-91-2016-burkina-faso-france/

About the filmmaker

Apolline Traoré was born in 1976 in Burkina Faso. She studied film at Emerson College in Boston. Her first short film, The Price of Ignorance won the Prix du Jury at the Pan African Film Festival in Ouagadougou (FESPACO). She also wrote and directed a television series consisting of 20 episodes called Monia et Rama in 2002. In 2003, she directed Kounandi, which was selected for the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. She produced her own feature film, Sous la clarté de la lune, in 2004. She returned to Burkina Faso in 2005 and started working with pioneering Burkinabé director Idrissa Ouédraogo. In 2008, she directed a television series, Le testament. Her film Borders won three prizes at FESPACO 2017, including the Paul Robeson Prize for the Best Film by a Director from the African Diaspora.