Who Are You October?Publication Date: 2017
"As it evokes two dramatic political events that have shaped Burkina Faso, this documentary explores the Burkinabe people's yearning for dignity and social justice. The turbulent Octobers of 1987 and 2014 stand in confrontation as pillars of reality in Burkina Faso. October 1987 marks the assassination of Thomas Sankara, the father of the democratic people's revolution. In October 2014, his successor, Blaise Compaoré, was overthrown by citizens in a popular uprising. As it begins with archival footage showing the attack on the Burkinabe National Assembly by demonstrators in October 2014, the film retraces a story of upheaval and disarray as manifested through the eyes of a family living in a district of the capital, Ouagadougou. Using a uniquely intimate approach, the filmmaker engages with the protagonists to re-enact their real experiences within the camera's composition, drawing out and amplifying the story of the Burkinabe people in the process. Although the people remain haunted by years of political chaos, they find solace in the influence of their late iconic leader, Thomas Sankara, known widely as "Africa's Che Guevera". In his enduring words to his nation: "Soon the stars will come back to visit the earth from which they distanced themselves during our dark times," his legacy continues to resonate with the Burkinabe in their profound yearning for a better reality."
