Irène Tassembédo: La Traversée (The Crossing) Prix Clément Tapsoba 2022 (Burkina Faso)

Irène Tassembédo

La Traversée (The Crossing)

Prix Clément Tapsoba 2022 (Burkina Faso)

Irène Tassembédo is the laureate of the Prix Clément Tapsoba 2022, presented on 23 November in Burkina Faso, for her film La Traversée (The Crossing).  It received the Special Jury Mention, in the Perspectives Selection at the 27th edition of FESPACO in 2021.

Irène Tassembédo
La Traversée (The Crossing)
Burkina Faso
Feature - 111min - 2021

Synopsis
Djibi returns to Burkina Faso after working for ten years in Italy—with pockets full and a heavy secret. Having contacted a group of young people from his neighborhood in Ouaga, whose only intention is to emigrate to Europe, he designs a secret project to prepare them for the voyage, which he himself has undertaken. A physically and mentally intensive preparation, quasi-military. Those who enroll in the program, whose profiles and backgrounds portray the social and cultural realities of the current generation of African youth, will see their lives take a new turn as a result of this very unique coaching. Djibi's objective is, in fact, to take each of them on an initiatory journey leading to personal fulfillment, and ultimately reversing the emigration project.

Irène Tassembédo is a choreographer and filmmaker.