Cheik Doukouré's second feature celebrates the powerful dream of becoming an African soccer star, a dream that is pursued by kids in innumerable small villages who play in the dust with bare feet and footballs made of rags. A thoroughly engaging adventure story, Le Ballon d'or follows Bandian, a boy-wonder on the soccer field, from his village in the bush through a series of hilarious and not so funny contretemps to superstardom in France. He's assisted on his way by his hometown witch doctor; the young French doctor (Agnés Soral) who gifts him with a real football - the "golden" ball of the film's title, a dwarf (Aboubacar Koita) who offers him a brother's love, soccer star Karim (played by player Salif Keita), and a canny businessman with an eye for the main chance.
Directed by | Cheik Doukouré |
Written by | Martin Brossollet, David Carayan |
Company | Visual FactoryVisual FactoryVisual Factory |