Xaraasi Xanne (Crossing Voices)

Using rare cinematic, photographic, and sound archives, Xaraasi Xanne (Crossing Voices) recounts the exemplary adventure of Somankidi Coura, an agricultural cooperative created in Mali in 1977 by western African immigrant workers living in workers’ residences in France. The story of this improbable, utopic return to the homeland follows a winding path that travels through the ecological challenges and conflicts on the African continent from the 70s to the present day. To tell this story, Bouba Touré, one of the principal actors, returns to the heart of his personal archives, documenting peasant struggles in France and Mali as well as following the personal stories of migrant workers over many decades. The film is a story of transmission, kinship and cinematographic geographies: throughout it, voices come to accompany Bouba and bring forth the narrative of a forgotten memory leading towards the future.