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“Captaine Thomas Sankara,” a Documentary Realized by Christophe Cupelin

“While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas” (Thomas Sankara)

April 08th, 2016
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The documentary “Capitaine Thomas Sankara” will be screened on 10th April from 19:00 to 22:30 at Regenbogen Kino. Regenbonen Kino is a non-commercial cinema that was opened in 1982 and is located in the Kreuzberg district. The documentary paints a portrait of Thomas Sankara, President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987.

According to the Journal Voix d’exil, “25 years after his unsolved assassination in 1987 this movie makes it possible to see and hear this atypical head of state again who certainly counts to the greatest African personalities of the 20th century”. The documentary was realized by the Swiss film director Christophe Cupelin. Christophe Cupelin was born in 1966 in Geneva; he studied at the École Supérieure d’Art Visuel and he founded the production company Laïka Films. He was 19 years old when he went to Burkina Faso; here, he worked as a volunteer for a Swiss NGO and, for the first time, he heard about Thomas Sankara. After 25 years collecting articles, speeches, written records and audio, he decided to make a movie on Thomas Sankara. Cupelin has produced several documentaries about Burkina Faso but this is his first full length-movie. In “Capitaine Thomas Sankara”, the film maker didn’t describe Sankara as a hero, but as a real man, with virtues and vices.

Thomas Sankara was a revolutionary and charismatic leader and is an icon for the African young people. He fought against neo-colonialism, imperialism and apartheid. His policies were focused on land reforms, supporting local production and prioritizing education. He also tried to abolish the ministers’ privileges and to promote public health. He launched a vaccination program to eradicate polio, meningitis and measles and 2.5 million people were vaccinated. Moreover, he took part in many campaigns for the emancipation of women and he appointed women to high governmental positions.
Thomas Sankara fought for the autonomy of his country and in 1984 he renamed in the country from the French colonial Upper Volta to Burkina Faso ("Land of Upright Man”). Sankara was killed during a military coup organized by Blaise Compaoré on 15 October 1987. A week before his assassination, he declared: “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas”

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News from Berlin
Giulia Ciccarese, Berlin Global