The Moroccan motion picture Les chevaux de Dieu (Horse of God) will be the opening film of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), the program for the presentation of African films in Hanoi, June 26-30.

Horse of God reflects the lives of the men responsible for the suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003. It will be screened at 7:30 pm at the Vietnam Film Institute, 523 Kim Ma Street, Hanoi.

A scene in the film Horse of God. Photo: Critikat.com

Directed by Nabil Ayouch, it is considered an immaculate film, telling many stories in one. It's not just about how kids become terrorists, but it's about much more, about poverty, about the mind struggling to find peace in an environment with limited choices and opportunities.

The program is jointly organized by the Moroccan Embassy in Vietnam, the Asia-Pacific Regional Office of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), the French Institute in Vietnam, and the Wallonia-Brussels Delegation in Vietnam.

As African cinema has not been popularized in Vietnam, it is expected to provide Vietnamese audiences with an opportunity to explore the continent through films.
The free event will showcase films that have won many awards at prestigious film festivals around the world to the capital's audience.

Among them are five feature films, namely Les chevaux de Dieu (Horse of God, Morocco), La nuit des rois (Night of the Kings, France, Canada, Ivory Coast, Senegal), Bal Poussiere (Dancing in the Dust, Ivory Coast), Freda (Haiti) and Juwaa (Belgium).

The films will give audiences a better understanding of the daily lives of African people and the intersection of past and present. They will be shown with Vietnamese, French, and English subtitles.

The program introducing African films will take place in Hanoi on June 26-30.

FESPACO is the largest film festival of its kind in Africa. It has been organized every two years since 1969. The 28th FESPACO, with the theme "African Cinema and Culture of Peace", was held in Burkina Faso from February 25 to March 4 and screened 170 films, 15 of which were nominated for the "Yennenga Golden Stallion" award.