"I am a griot. It is I, Djeli Mamadou Kouyaté, son of Bintou Kouyaté and Djeli Kedian Kouyaté, master in the art of eloquence. Since time immemorial the Kouyatés have been in the service of the Keita princes of Mali; we are vessels of speech, we are the repositories which harbour secrets many centuries old. The art of eloquence has no secrets for us; without us the names of kings would vanish into oblivion, we are the memory of mankind; by the spoken word we bring to life the deeds and exploits of kings for younger generations.

I derive my knowledge from my father Dejeli Kedian, who also got it from his father; history holds no mystery for us; we teach to the vulgar just as much as we want to teach them, for it is we who keep the keys to the twelve doors of Mali."

Thus opens one version of the 13th Century Sundjata Epic, probably the most celebrated traditional narrative from West Africa. The epic recounts the life of Sundiata Keïta, the king responsible for turning the land of Mandé into the great trading empire of Mali. Through his mother, he is grandson of the ferocious Buffalo Woman of Do. His father, King of Mandé, is head of the royal Keïta clan, descendent of a companion to the Prophet Mohammed and endowed with the spirit of the lion.

The epic tells of the many adventures, and misfortunes , that he faces on the way to greatness. All were prophesied, and all the prophesies came to fruition. Born lame to Sogolon, the ugly second wife of the Keïta king, Sundiata must endure jealousy and mistreatment from the king’s first wife, the beautiful Sassouma Bérété, and her children. He is forced into exile, becomes a great hunter and warrior, then finally returns to his homeland to win his rightful place as king. He manages to turn adversity into triumph. With the Kouyaté griot Balla Fasséké at his side, he brings Mali to unprecedented greatness.

The story of Sundjata and the magnificent empire is of great importance to the people of West Africa; it provides them with a common identity, a stable center in the midst of the winds of Westernism and Modernism. However, most young West Africans are losing touch with this tradition, and are instead staking their future success upon Western knowledge, fashion, and values. To Dani Kouyaté, the writer and director of Keïta, this discarding of tradition clearly must be reversed if West Africa is to find its path. He is part of the same Kouyaté family that produced the griots to the the Keïta kings. In order to reach a larger audience, he chooses the medium of film to tell his story, but his purpose is identical to that of his griot forebears.

Roughly translated, a "griot" is a bard, an oral storyteller and musician, but the griot’s traditional role was much more than just entertainment. The griot was the group’s living memory, keeper and sharer of stories and lessons. Each king had his own griot, who often spoke for the king, counseled the king, and tutored the king’s children. Just as important, he tutored his own children in the stories and principles of their heritage, so that the tradition could be passed on and kept alive.

The film opens in a village in Burkina Faso. Djeliba (or Great Griot) Kouyaté has a dream which makes him see that he must go to the city to initiate young Mabo Keïta into the secrets of his heritage. Mabo’s father left the village for the city and a life of Francophone education and culture. Djeliba feels responsibility to show Mabo another kind of education, for the Kouyatés have always served as griots to the Keïtas.

He moves in with the Keïtas and begins telling Mabo the story of his ancestry, the Sundjata Epic. From that point on, the film moves back and forth between the mythical world of the story, and the modern world of the storytelling. Mabo, who is curious and very bright, becomes increasingly drawn into the story. Previously a prize-winning scholar, he no longer wants to go to school: he hungers to hear the fate of Sundjata and his family.

Not surprisingly, this results in a great deal of tension in the Keïta household. Mabo’s mother feels that the griot is a bad influence on her son, who is destined for a successful professional life if he can maintain his high grades at school. His father, on the other hand, is happy to have Djeliba there; Djeliba had initiated him when he was a boy, and he is pleased to see his son so responsive. The parents find themselves in conflict, as Djeliba’s presence becomes increasingly disruptive to the French-speaking, Western-style household. Interestingly, the difficulties in the Keïta household begin to parallel those faced by Sundiata and his family in the story. But so do the discoveries made by Mabo and by Sundiata, as each begins to acquire a sense of his own unique destiny.

The film ends without the Sundiata story being completed. Indeed, the film shows us little more than a fourth of the story. Actually, this is not surprising--an oral recitation of the complete poem with musical accompaniment can last close to sixty hours. The film ends, appropriately, with Mabo and his mythical ancestor both with new-found power, but both still in search of their destinies.

Keïta is another success for the film industry of Burkina Faso. As veterans of the Cascade Festival know, the government of Burkina Faso (formerly called Upper Volta) has for a number of years been extremely supportive of cinema both as an art form and as a means of communication. The result has been the biennial FESPACO film festival in the capital city of Ouagadougou, which brings together films and filmmakers from all over Africa. More important, a growing number of engaging, thoughtful, and well-crafted films have come out of Burkina Faso in the last decade.

This film could easily have become a stylistic nightmare, given the juxtaposition of the two stories. Instead, the filmmaker moves us skillfully and gracefully from one narrative strand to the other. The beautiful narration and traditional music help to bridge these transitions as well. The result is a real blending of ancient and modern--which, after all, is what this film is all about.

There is magic in the relationship between Mabo and Djeliba. The boy and the griot could easily have been presented as cardboard characters serving functional roles. Yet one never feels that Djeliba is preaching at us, nor that Mabo is just a "straight man" for his lessons. They seem real. And the close-ups of Djeliba as he shares the wonders of Sundiata’s story, and of Mabo as he listens in rapt attentiveness, are compelling and beautiful.

Another interesting aspect of the film is its powerful women. The Buffalo Woman of Do, Sogolon, and Sassouma Bérété are strong, compelling characters, more so than most of the men. They are not necessarily "nice" persons, yet one respects their strength and their understanding of their destinies. Similarly, Mabo’s mother is beautiful and domineering,. She is an obstacle to Djeliba’s mission, yet we can admire her and respect her choices. Her husband, on the other hand, seems lost between two worlds.

This, however, is Mabo’s story, and through him the story of Kouyaté’s intended West African audience. It is not a story of losing oneself; it is a story of discovery, of self-discovery through tradition, through the "heritage of the griot."

As griot Djeli Mamoudou Kouyaté tells us in his version of the epic, "Kings have prescribed destinies just like men, and seers who probe the future know it. They have knowledge of the future, whereas we griots are depositories of the past. But whoever knows the history of a country can read its future."

What an appropriate film with which to open this series! We are pleased and proud to be able to bring you Keïta, The Heritage of the Griot, as our first film in this sixth Cascade Festival of African Film.

Quotations are from the 1965 Longman edition of the epic: Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali, transcribed by D.T. Niane and translated by G.D. Pickett.

--Notes by Michael Dembrow