Toula or the Water Spirit

Toula ou Le génie des eaux

Niger, West Germany

1974

90 Min

Color

French

Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
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DIR Moustapha Alassane, Anna Soehring

SCR Moustapha Alassane, Boubou Hama

DP Moustapha Alassane, Bernd Rühe

CAST Isaa Bania, Solange Delanne, Parfait Kondo, Sotigui Kouyaté, Damouré Zika

The gods have declared a drought for the country. There seems to be no hope. A holy man summoned by the king requires the sacrifice of a young woman to put an end to their anger. A young man in love decides to go in search of water to save the girl from a tragic end, but when he returns with good news it’s too late: the genie had his satisfaction and Toula has already disappeared in the holy swamp. —Marfilmes.com

Director

Moustapha Alassane

Born in N’Dougou, Niger, Alassane first took a degree in Mechanics. In Niamey, he learns cinematographic techniques with Jean Rouch, who helped him to go study animation with Norman Mclaren in Canada. He is one of the first filmmakers in Africa and made Niger a milestone in African Cinema. The first animated films in Sub-Saharan Africa are his.
The frog is the main character in his animations and highlights his satiric eye on the social habits of his country. He directed approximately thirty animations, documentaries and fiction films.
Retrospectives of his filmography have been presented in the most important festivals around the world. He led the Department of Cinema of the University of Niamey, for fifteen years, and was awarded the French Legion of Honour during the Cannes Film Festival of 2007. —Africultures