ISF: A History of Independence (2009)

ISF: A History of Independence (2009) Dir: Daouda Coulibaly Date Seen: October 2, 2009 Rating: 3.25/5

Daouda Coulibaly exhibits such a supreme confidence in his knowledge and appropriation of the Pan-African history that serves as the foundation for his short film A History of Independence that it's hard not to get swept up in his allegory's purposiveness. What he lacks in his crude construction of mise en scene--as in the scene by the pool of water--he makes up for in a sense of direction, which is essential in any fable that attempts to broadly sketch out a metaphor for the struggle for African independence. A History of Independence feels like a sketch for a longer, more intricate story later down the line; a good start.