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Yaaba

Play trailer Poster for Yaaba 1989 1h 30m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
88% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 93% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
In a small African village, elderly Sana is ostracized, but 10-year-old Bila doesn't think she's a witch and calls her Yaaba, which means grandmother. After Sana saves Bila's deathly ill cousin Nopoko, Bila comes to Sana's defense when the village medicine man accuses her of taking Nopoko's soul.

Critics Reviews

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Ronnie Scheib Chicago Reader 05/11/2022
[Its] directness breeds an intimacy, a sense of familiarity. By the film’s end we know every mud-bricked courtyard and intersection of the tiny village... Go to Full Review Jill Forbes Sight & Sound 01/16/2020
The other source of Yaaba's appeal, however, is its capacity to evoke universal truths by recounting simple events and so to transcend the confines of village, state or even continent. Go to Full Review Sheila Benson Los Angeles Times 09/12/2013
4/5
Yaaba's power sneaks up on you. At first it seems as spare as the airy African Savannah where it unfolds. It's only with a little distance from its muted beauty that the plan of the film becomes clear. Go to Full Review Marvin J. Bevans The Crisis 11/14/2023
Yaaba is a small movie with a big heart. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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02/16/2011 A quiet film with subtlety and compassion and a few things that even reminded me of "Pather Panchali." See more 02/14/2008 Classique du cine africain, visible a la Cinematheque actuellement. Illustre la tendance au conte poetique en milieu rural, parfois denonce pour etre des enluminures pour festivals occidentaux. C'est pas faux. Mais c'est pas mal non plus. Ouedraogo reste un des trois ou quatre metteurs en scene africains de haut niveau. En plus, il a le meme nom qu'un rugbyman. See more 09/29/2007 Very well acted & filmed docu-drama of opposed generations in a very defined social structure. Truly touching. See more Read all reviews
Yaaba

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Cast & Crew

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Idrissa Ouédraogo

Director

Fatimata Sanga

Yaaba

Noufou Ouedraogo

Bila

Roukietou Barry

Nopoko

Adama Ouédraogo

Kougri

Sibidou Ouedraogo

Poko

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Yaaba

Yaaba (1989) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In a small African village, elderly Sana is ostracized, but 10-year-old Bila doesn't think she's a witch and calls her Yaaba, which means grandmother. After Sana saves Bila's deathly ill cousin Nopoko, Bila comes to Sana's defense when the village medicine man accuses her of taking Nopoko's soul.
Director
Idrissa Ouédraogo
Producer
Michel David, Idrissa Ouédraogo
Screenwriter
Idrissa Ouédraogo
Distributor
New Yorker Films
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 6, 1989, Original
Runtime
1h 30m