Timbuktu

Timbuktu (2014) is Abderrahmane Sissako's drama about life under jihadist rule, and you can watch it online on iFILM. It unfolds on the sands outside the ancient Malian city, where armed occupiers have outlawed music, laughter, and football.

Kidane, a cattle herder, lives with his wife and daughter in a tent among the dunes, just far enough from the patrols to feel safe. A quarrel with a fisherman over a drowned cow ends in a killing, and suddenly his fate rests with a court that values scripture over a man's life. Around this, Sissako sketches the town: a singer punished for her voice, young lovers, boys playing a match with no ball because the real one was confiscated. Most of the cruelty happens just off screen, which only sharpens it.

The film was up for the Best Foreign Language Oscar and went on to claim seven César Awards back home in France. Sissako films brutality with an almost lyrical calm, and that quiet restraint is what makes Timbuktu one of the decade's great African films. Stream Timbuktu (2014) online on iFILM.