Burkina Faso and France / 1996 / 90mins / Drama / French

Haramuya plays out amid the shantytowns and affluent architecture of Ouagadougou, where wealth and poverty thrive side by side. In his second feature, Touré paints a rich portrait of his native country’s capital city, skillfully outlining the tensions between traditional and modern ways, especially as they affect several generations of a Muslim family.

Through Fousseini, a Muslim firmly attached to his faith and traditions, and his family, Haramuya draws a picture of Ouagadougou in the traps of modernism and traditionalism. Fousseini tries to take care of his family according to the old precepts and the code of honor inherited from his ancestors. One of his sons is a cinema projectionist and supports all the family against the will of his wife. The other son idles around all day long in Ouagadougou, looking for a girlfriend.

Drissa Touré

Drissa Touré was born in Banfora, Burkina Faso, in 1952. Although Touré studied film technique at ATRIA in Paris, he is largely a self-taught filmmaker. He directed several short films, including Nasabule, which powerfully depicts the disruption of rural life by “modern improvements.” Laada, his first feature film, premiered at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival to great critical acclaim and garnered the 1991 Ercidan Prize at FESPACO in Ouagadougou. Learn More