By Aaron Kupchella

Guest Writer

In celebration of Black History Month, the Film Arts Committee affords you a unique opportunity to experience a rich piece of Malian cinema this Saturday at 8:03 in the Commons Lecture Hall. ``La Genèse'' is director Cheick Oumar Sissoko's stunning 1999 rendition of some very familiar stories in a west African context. And it's a movie about Bible stories that might blow your mind.

The screenplay (by Jean-Louis Sagot-Duvauroux) weaves the stories found in Genesis Chapters 24, 25, 34, 37, and 38 into a dramatic narrative that cleverly and poignantly relates the Biblical texts to the modern day problem of fratricidal warfare. The story centers around Jacob, Esau, and Hamor the Canaanite as each of their clans clash and seek truce with one another.

``To all the victims of fratricide. To all who make peace,'' reads the opening caption. What follows is a morally powerful yet non-simplistic tale drawn from the Sacred text of three world religions.

The powerful African setting is one of the film's greatest strengths. The bright costume colors contrast with the dry dust. The cast of actors is entirely made up of Malian speaking Bambara (yes, there are English subtitles), and the dazzling arid beauty of the west African landscape-not terribly different from the Trans-Jordanian highlands of Palestine-provides a very appropriate visual mood as well.

In the opening scene, Esau, dynamically played by Malian singer/poet Salif Keita boldly addresses God with his arms outstretched. ``Lord you created the world and there was no water, then you created man and still no water. The dry wind made him cry `I thirst!' Then you created woman unquenchable thirst. But why then did you create brothers? Must we live forever with this drought and thirst?''

This questioning speech sets the tone of the entire movie, which, through the narrative, questions the cause and meaning of brotherly strife.

While ``La Genèse'' is a somewhat rare film and not commonly seen in the US (another reason to show up tomorrow night), it has an unmistakably universal characteristic. While it's hard to say what that is, something about it-the ancient source of the story, the common theme of brotherhood, or perhaps the setting in Africa which has been thought of as mankind's original continent-seems ancient and deeply rooted in the worldwide human condition.