Fatɔbugu (Film)

[Christy]

“Fatɔbugu” film on YouTube with English subtitles.

Short film discription: Paul, an expatriate, decides to visit his fiancé Isabelle in Fatɔbugu. It just so happens that Paul arrives on a day full of madness and has one insane experience after another with the villagers of Fatɔbugu and thus becomes ‘the fool of the village’ himself with a lesson to be learned from it all.

Note: The English subtitles are most definitely not perfect. But, for anyone learning Bambara, if you use this film for added practice, as you rewatch and as you begin to comprehend and understand Bambara more and more, you’ll eventually find yourself not needing a translation. At the same time, you’ll also find yourself, here and there, making your own mental translation corrections! #LevelUp

[coleman]

Classic! Thanks for sharing, Christy.

True story: many strangers in Mali have called me “Paul” over the years and insisted that I must be the actor from this film

[Christy]

WHAT!? You know, I surely thought about you when I watched it… and even thought about suggesting to you to come up with a script for a short film, of some sort, with a purposeful message behind it. After seeing Fatɔbugu I thought, “Surely, Coleman could do a short film for An ka taa!” Maybe you could even try to find the real Paul and add him in a scene.