After winning the 3rd prize at the Ateliers de l'Atlas during the 19th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM), Burkinabé director Boubacar Sangaré returns to the festival to present the result of his hard work in the heart of the Kalgouli gold mining sites through his documentary titled "Gold of Life."
"Gold of life" has been selected in the "11th Continent" category, highlighting courageous and innovative films that challenge cinematic conventions. This film is the result of ten years of work, with three dedicated to shooting in extremely challenging locations, including tunnels over 100 meters deep.
"Gold of life" primarily portrays Rasmané, a 16-year-old adolescent working in these conditions to make a living while nurturing dreams, as explained by its director Boubacar Sangaré in this interview.
How did you gain the trust of Rasmané, alias Bolo, and the other young workers at the artisanal gold mining site?
Perhaps it's the time we spent with the characters that allowed trust to develop between us. We spent three years shooting there.
Why did you choose to follow these children over such a long period, and what evolution did you observe in their daily lives?
It could have been three years, or it could have been ten years. I didn't really decide. I just wanted to follow an adolescent growing up in this environment. After three years, my team and I felt we had seen him evolve, and we had all the elements needed to make the film.
For Rasmané, there is a real evolution: when we see him at the beginning of the film, he is an adolescent playing with everyone, dreaming big, and working towards that dream. Gradually, we see him fade; the dream starts to crumble because he realizes he is still far from achieving it. Physically, he starts to feel pain, fatigue on his body. So, after three years, we genuinely feel that he has evolved both physically and psychologically.
How did you tackle the challenge of filming in difficult conditions, especially in tunnels over 100 meters deep?
Filming was quite particular because we made a lot of back-and-forths on the site. When we were outside, everything was fine. But once we had to go down into tunnels over 100 meters deep, it became a bit more complicated.
When people work in the pit, there isn't enough space. So, once the director of photography goes down, no one else can accompany him. Below, the lens starts to fog up. The camera works in some moments and not in others because water is flowing everywhere and falling on us. So, it was a bit challenging. But at the same time, it was the same working conditions as these people. We conformed a bit to their conditions to be able to make this film.
The film discusses the transformation of gold into currency, and we know that artisanal gold mining is often linked to political issues. How are these aspects addressed in the film, and what is your perspective on their long-term impact?
Traditional exploitation directly benefits the populations, whereas industrial exploitation benefits the state, even though it was supposed to benefit the populations, which is not always the case. Since we know our states where there are many difficulties, corruption, and more, when wealth reaches the state, it doesn't distribute to the populations. One could say it is a political stance regarding capitalism, which is designed to exploit both humans and the environment.
Obviously, in the long term, it's a tough blow, for the environment, including the machines emitting smoke daily, and for both the environment and humans, it's really a tough blow. That's why we end the film with an aerial tracking shot where we take distance from the site, providing us, as spectators, with perspective, allowing us to rise above everything that is happening and to engage in deep reflection for the preservation of human life and the environment.
Did you encounter resistance or reluctance from individuals or institutions involved in the gold industry during the film's production process?
We didn't face resistance because we went through "normal" channels. There were small designated leaders on the site, so we could wait for them to show up in person and explain that we wanted to shoot here. Gradually, people got used to us and even gave us a nickname: "the gold miners."
We didn't have any problems with the industrialists either because they didn't have exploitation permits at this site yet. They were still in the prospecting phase during our shooting.
The only scare we had was in 2019 when we were reported for terrorism on the site (laughs), even though it was just one of our main characters carrying a wireless microphone that someone mistook for an explosive because Burkina Faso is facing some terrorism. But everyone quickly calmed down when they realized the misunderstanding. We could have been attacked without truly knowing why, but apart from this small incident, everything went well.
Do you have future projects to address other social issues?
Right now, I'm trying to make a "road movie" on what is called "griots" in West Africa, who were genealogists, historians, social mediators, and existed for a long time in our societies. So, with music and storytelling, across West Africa.
