Produced in Bambara, “Den muso” which translates into French as “the young girl”, highlights the existential drama of a young mute girl raped by a young man, a former employee of her father. Pregnant, she suffers rejection from her family and the child’s father who refuses to recognize him.
With this film, Souleymane Cissé wanted to portray silence as the most heartbreaking cry of pain that humans, particularly women, can feel when faced with the injustices and dictates of society. “ I wanted to expose the case of the many unmarried mothers rejected everywhere. I wanted my heroine to be mute to symbolize the obvious: in our country, women do not have a voice. », declared the director of the film.
So poignant and denunciative of the realities of the time in Mali, “Den muso” received a hostile reception upon its release in 1975. Indeed, not only was the film banned by the Malian Minister of Culture but Souleymane Cissé was arrested and imprisoned for having accepted French cooperation. The fireboat remained banned for three years and did not obtain its operating permit until 1978.
Now 84 years old, Souleymane Cissé is the dean of African cinemas. Director, producer, screenwriter but also operator, in more than 50 years of career he has become the symbol of creative freedom, both poetic and political, which makes him a hero of Africa and a monument of cinema through the world.
In addition to “Den muso”, he is also the director of the works “Baara” (1978) and “Finyè” (1982) under the dictatorial regime of Moussa Traoré. Added to this are “Yeelen”, Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, in 1987, and his greatest success in France, then “Waati” in 1995, “Tell me who you are (Min Yé)” in 2009 and “ O Ka” in 2015.
