African realities on big screen at Burkina festival

OUAGADOUGOU, Feb 25 (Reuters) Its dusty streets crowded with honking mopeds and languid cyclists, hawkers and street children, Ouagadougou is a far cry from Cannes, Venice or Berlin.

But for the next eight days, the capital of Burkina Faso hosts a film festival, showcasing the finest of African cinema for the 20th time.

Held every two years since 1969 in one of the world's poorest countries, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou draws Africans keen to see their own realities -- rather than Hollywood glamour -- reflected on the big screen.

''It has succeeded because it is a necessity. It is the only cultural space for Africans,'' said Rasmane Ouedrago, a Burkinabe actor and official for the festival, known as Fespaco.

''In Cannes, Venice, Berlin, you don't see as many of our films,'' he said, speaking before the opening yesterday.

The festival provides a public platform for the continent's directors: film-makers from Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Guinea are among those competing for the top prize, the Etalon d'Or de Yennenga, or Golden Stallion of Yennenga.

The prize is named after the fabled warrior daughter of a 12th century West African King, a beautiful young woman who helped her father in battle and who is held to be the mother of the Mossi people, Burkina Faso's ethnic majority.

AFRICAN ISSUES This year's contenders include ''Africa Paradis'', a film by Beninois director Sylvestre Amoussou set in a distant future in which European immigrants struggle to get into a booming and wealthy United States of Africa.

''Daratt'', by Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, tells the tale of a young man who goes to look for his father's killer while ''Il va pleuvoir sur Conakry'' (It will rain on Conakry) by Guinea's Cheick Fantamady Camara tells the story of a strictly Muslim family dealing with the birth of an illegitimate child.

In 2005, Zola Maseko became the first South African to win the prize for ''Drum'', the true story of a black journalist working under apartheid set amid the jazz clubs of Johannesburg.

''The cinema speaks to people, it is addressing issues related to their daily lives,'' Burkinabe filmmaker Gaston Kabore told Reuters, adding the festival had survived for so long because it was held up as a showcase of African culture.

''Politicians somehow understand its importance, it has helped put our country on the map of the world ... this longevity is because it's a festival with a real personality,'' said Kabore, whose film ''Buud Yam'' won the top prize in 1997.

Africans in the diaspora also get a chance to compete.

Poolside at Ouagadougou's Hotel Independence, where most directors stay, palm trees rustle as US-based African-American director Hafiz Farid talks about his documentary ''A Pillar of Salt: The Angry Woman Syndrome''.

''Fespaco is extremely important because of the long history of Africa as being a cradle of culture. When you come to Africa you are coming to one of the mother civilisations. When you talk about art and culture, this is the birthplace,'' he said.

Tickets for screenings cost about 2 dollars, an expensive price tag in impoverished Burkina Faso, but still locals queue up to pay.

''It reflects the stories of Africans, I will go and see the films,'' said office worker Nazi Bani.

Reuters SBA RN0425