01:41 Ye Len is a 1987 epic Malian film directed by Suleyman Sise.
01:47 It is a political fable filmed in the Bambara and Fula languages
01:51 and is based on a legend told by the Bambara people.
01:54 Though the era is undefined, it is presumably set in the 13th century in the Mali Empire
02:00 and is a heroic quest narrative featuring magic and precognition.
02:04 Sise has stated in an interview for Coyote Zoo Cinema that it was in part made in opposition to European ethnographic films
02:12 and that he wanted to make a response to an external perception, a perception by white technicians and academics, an alien perception.
02:20 It stars Isiaka Kane as Nyanenkoro, a young African man who possesses magical powers.
02:26 Nyamanto Sonogo plays Nyanenkoro's father, who is tracking his son through the Bambara, Fulani and Dogon lands of West Africa using a magical wooden post to guide him.
