France / 2017 / 72mins / Documentary / French

To be somewhere precise yet stand nowhere at all; to touch the human soul with images. In Valérie Osouf’s portrait of the world-renowned filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Life on Earth, Bamako, Timbuktu), we are invited not only into his physical territory but also his poetic and politically engaged terrain. From Mali to China, from Nouakchott to Moscow, these spaces speak of displacement and exile. Featuring interviews with acclaimed artists, such as Danny Glover and Martin Scorsese, and everyday movie lovers—including a film-loving police officer and philosophy professor—Beyond Territories allows us to walk alongside Sissako and experience his world.

Valérie Osouf

Valérie Osouf directed, Sans Commentaire, le pays où l’on n’arrive jamais, a documentary in celluloid, about people deported from France. In 2008, she co-wrote and co-directed, Cameroon, Autopsy of an Independence, a historical documentary about political and military repression of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC), from 1955 through 1971. In 2010, with filmmakers Alain Gomis and Newton Aduaka, she co-founded Granit films. The production company has completed 5 feature films, 7 shorts, and won many awards, including 2 golden stallions at FESPACO and the Silver Bear at the Berlinale. Learn More