Ouaga Saga

An african student in Paris needs to work by night to finance the rest of his studies. By coincidence he gets a lot of money and turns back home to Burkina Faso with his french friend - but life is not that easy anywhere. Still watching how it is to be a stranger here or there can be quite funny.

Ten year old Bila and his cousin Nopoko live happily in their Sahelian village. Bila is taken with an elderly woman, Sana, whom he calls «Yaaba», although the rest of the village treats her as a witch. One day, Nopoko falls ill with tetanus; her condition worsens. Nobody in the village, not even the healer, can help her - except, perhaps, Sana. Yaaba is one of Idrissa Ouedraogo’s major works and typical for his approach: "My Africa is not only about masks, dances and cottages, it's about love, friendship and reflecting on the world," says the maverick director, who is aware of Western film codes but refuses them, who remains rooted in Africa despite his many travels.

Sixteen-year-old Pougbila is an exuberant dancer, which causes her peers to remark cattily on her seductive moves. At the same time a village child dies of unexplained causes, Pougbila tells her mother Napoko that she's been raped. However, she refuses to reveal the perpetrator. As child deaths mount, the villagers speculate that a witch is behind the tragedies. Under the pretext of protecting his daughter, Pougbila's father hastens to marry her to a nearby villager, ignoring Napoko's objections. After Pougbila leaves, village elders call soothsayer to find the witch who is causing the child deaths. The village soon becomes convinced that Napoko is the evil one and she's chased out of town. Forced to wander the countryside, Napoko seeks refuge in one of the shelters for women accused of witchcraft. Pougbila hears of her mother's fate and sets out to find her and confront the village elders with the truth.