Continental Drift

On the occasion of the retrospective of the films of Abderrahmane Sissako at MOMA, here’s a clip from his 2006 feature, “Bamako,” which screens there on June 27th and June 29th (and is also available on DVD). The fictional set-up by which he channels his documentary subjects—Malian locals who come to an unofficial court that is trying the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for crimes against Africa—provides a remarkable angle by which to view globalization, namely, in terms of the frustrating recognition that events happening at hand are being controlled by people and institutions far away. Economists and political scientists may debate who, in fact, wins the outdoor courtroom’s debates, but Sissako’s depiction of the gap between bureaucratic decision-making and local experience poignantly lifts unheralded citizens and their modest concerns to the big historical stage.