Touba

Name: Touba
Director: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Released: 2013

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi 2013

“Touba” reveals a face of Islam essential in these divisive times. It chronicles the Grand Magaal pilgrimage of 1 million Sufi Muslims to the holy city of Touba, Senegal. This observational film takes us inside the Mouride Brotherhood: one of Africa’s most elusive organizations. Pilgrims travel from all over the world to pay homage to the life and teachings of Cheikh Amadou Bamba. His non-violent resistance to French colonial persecution in the late 19th century inspired a national movement: freedom of religious expression through pacifism. These are lessons the world can learn.

Add to Playlist

Add Bookmark

Bookmark List

Play Trailer

Running Time:

83 min.

Spoken Languages:

Kinyarwanda, Wolof

Subtitles:

English

Directors:

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Producers:

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Cinematographers:

Scott Duncan

Editors:

Eric Hendricks

Production Companies:

Little Monster Films

African Cinema and Cul..

Colonialism

Ethnography

History

Immigration and Migrat..

Religion and Spiritual..

Press

Indiewood

A humanist visual poem

Steve Rickinson
The Hollywood Reporter

A travelogue whose guide prefers to serve as a conduit for observation rather than as interpreter, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi's Touba offers scenes from an annual pilgrimage of Sufi Muslims in Senegal. Though its audience is limited to viewers already interested in the religious traditions of Western Africa and those willing to sit back and soak up the journey's sensory details, the doc will find admirers in special bookings and understandably won a cinematography award at this year's South By Southwest.

John DeFore
The Austin Chronicle

Touba is a documentary that doesn't pretend to know, or impart, all ... and that's rare and refreshing. For the sound design alone, this isn't to be missed.

Andy Campbell

Festival Participation

SXSW, New York African Film Festival - 2013
Special Jury Prize for Cinematography
DOC NYC, New York Documentary Festival - 2013

Additional Materials

Film Poster

Distribution Company

Back to Film Summary

This Week’s Featured Films

The fate of the planet’s last untouched wilderness, the deep ocean, is at stake as a secretive international organization moves to allow corporations to strip mine the seabed for metals crucial to powering a carbon-free future.
BUTTERFLY IN THE SKY tells the story of the beloved PBS children’s series “Reading Rainbow,” its iconic host LeVar Burton, and the challenges its creators faced in cultivating a love of reading through television.
How did we come to this moment, where free speech issues have never felt more complicated and urgent, and where the nation is wondering a new: what price are we willing to pay for free speech?
Come back for seconds to explore the urgent challenges and potential solutions to our increasingly vulnerable food system in 'FOOD, INC. 2', a sequel that digs deeper into food corporate consolidation and its unchecked impacts on our planet and health.
COMMON GROUND is the sweeping and uplifting story of the pioneers of the Regenerative Movement who are forgoing the toxic seeds and sprays pushed by Big Ag in order to produce tremendous quantities of nutritionally dense food while bringing our entire ecosystem back to life
Oliver Stone's documentary explores the potential of nuclear energy as a solution to climate change and energy poverty.
Yaara Bou Melhem’s documentary "Unseen Skies" explores state and corporate surveillance evolution through Trevor Paglen's audacious launch of artwork in space.
How did the willful daughter of a Himalayan forest conservator become Monsanto’s worst nightmare? The Seeds of Vandana Shiva tells the remarkable life story of Gandhian eco-activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, how she stood up to the corporate Goliaths of industrial agriculture
A one-hour documentary that delves into the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the birth of a new movement to treat and prevent toxic stress