Timbuktu (2014 film)

Timbuktu
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAbderrahmane Sissako
Written by
  • Abderrahmane Sissako
  • Kessen Tall
Produced bySylvie Pialat
Étienne Comar
Remi Burah
Oliver Pere
Starring
CinematographySofian El Fani
Edited byNadia Ben Rachid
Music byAmine Bouhafa
Production
companies
Distributed byCohen Media Group
Release dates
  • 15 May 2014 (2014-05-15) (Cannes)
  • 10 December 2014 (2014-12-10) (France)
Running time
96 minutes
Countries
  • Mauritania
  • France
Languages
Box office$7.2 million

Timbuktu is a 2014 drama film directed and co-written by Abderrahmane Sissako. The film centres on the brief occupation of Timbuktu, Mali by Ansar Dine, and is partially influenced by the 2012 public stoning of an unmarried couple in Aguelhok.

Shot in Oualata, Mauritania, Timbuktu was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the François Chalais Prize. Timbuktu was chosen as Mauritania's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and went on to be nominated for the prize at the 87th Academy Awards; it was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language at the 69th British Academy Film Awards. Timbuktu was named Best Film at the 11th Africa Movie Academy Awards, where it was nominated for ten further awards. In 2017, The New York Times ranked it the 12th best film of the 21st century so far.