The ideas of Joseph Ki-Zerbo, a teacher, historian and political man, edited side by side with archival images, the testimony of historians, politicians, colleagues and friends, echo like a call to the rebirth of Africa and the need for Africans to accept their identities in a positive way, while asserting their shared destiny in the face of the challenge of globalisation.

Those in power, who see any original idea as a potential seed of disruption and subversion, do not encourage the discussion of ideas or the return to our own values in order to arrive at more humane forms of development. As I made this film, I realised the extent to which Africans ignore their intellectuals. For some time now, they've been warning us about the options being imposed from outside, whether it be international banking, the IMF or even the former colonial powers. It's as though Africa lacked all trust in its intellectuals. Dr. Bado is a typical example of this contempt and lack of understanding. Those in power, who see any original idea as a possible seed of disruption and subversion, don't do anything to encourage discussion of ideas. My intention was to record Dr Bado's ideas so that future generations with greater awareness can take into account the neeed for a return to our own values in order to arrive at more human forms of development.

“My grandmother was born in what is now Burkina Faso, as a result of an encounter between a French soldier and a young African woman. The discovery of the unique fate of the mixed-race minority to which she belongs, as they were separated from their mothers, abandoned by their fathers and finally confined in orphanages, returns me to my own mixed-race identity.” Available online until November 19th 2021.

2010 was the 50th anniversary of the Independence of most countries in western Africa, an event that was celebrated by officials and civil servants with great pomp and ceremony. The following year, 2011, was marked by political conflict in Côte d’Ivoire – which ended with the intervention of the French Army and the arrest of president Laurent Gbagbo – and in Libya, with the involvement of the NATO bombings in the hunt for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his death. These two events undermined the idea of the independence of the African continent and stirred the consciousness of African youth. This film considers the future of the continent through the eyes of four individuals: a socially and politically committed artist, an activist filmmaker involved in the fight for human rights, a philosopher and university professor, and an economist and former Deputy General Director of the World Trade Organisation.

Ouagadougou. Darkness fell on the city several hours ago. Ramata, Mariam and Eugénie are bent over the ground, untiringly sweeping the dust which inevitably swirls back. The language they use to speak of their professional and family lives mirrors their struggle, to get rid of the city's dust and the poverty of their homes with equal energy. A documentary on the role and place of African women today. The majority are still illiterate and yet they are the cornerstones of economic activity in numerous countries of the continent.