The documentary Sahel: Homeland or Death (Sahel: Pátria ou Morte), produced by BdF, premiered this Tuesday (16) in São Paulo. The film examines grassroots resistance and the new development trajectories being charted in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali following waves of civilian and military uprisings in recent years.
The screening will take place at Armazém do Campo and Livraria Expressão Popular as part of the event Voices of Africa: Pan-African Revolutions Today and the Legacy of Thomas Sankara.
BdF reporters spent two months traveling across the Sahel to document the foundations of what locals describe as “real independence.” Directed by journalist Pedro Stropasolas, who was on assignment in the region, the film presents the role of popular resistance in sustaining revolutionary processes and draws on in-depth reporting of social dynamics and geopolitical struggles.
“We are witnessing a revolution in Africa, yet progressive forces in Latin America know little about it. This film helps bridge that gap between Africa and Latin America,” said Stropasolas.
Popular resistance in the streets
For decades, Sahelian countries have faced colonial domination and exploitation by France and other Western powers. The slogan À bas la Françafrique has captured a growing sentiment, as mass protests have demanded the withdrawal of French troops and expressed support for new governments.
With support from the International People’s Assembly (IPA), the film features interviews with 23 grassroots leaders from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Benin who are at the forefront of patriotic liberation struggles and the fight for sovereignty in the region.
Stropasolas emphasized that the production seeks to shed light on these ongoing struggles, countering French narratives often echoed in mainstream media that portray Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger as undergoing authoritarian transitions lacking popular support.
“By highlighting grassroots initiatives backing these patriotic processes, and giving voice to the people leading them, we aim to show that the anti-colonial revolution remains alive among the people. It is the population itself that ensures these countries can break from the West and resist threats of intervention by France and its allies,” the director said.
The documentary also addresses the history of French colonization in West Africa, the rise of terrorism in the region, and the formation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). Since September 16, 2023, this military and economic bloc has become the main force confronting jihadist groups in the Sahel.
“The AES has become a revolutionary entity striving daily to free itself from monetary, financial, infrastructural, and ideological imperialism,” said Burkinabé adviser Luc Damiba.
A new Pan-African horizon
The film’s release coincides with the AES’s two-year anniversary. “There are still attacks, we are not fully free yet, but we are advancing toward ending the war across the region, not just in Burkina Faso. This is now a struggle of all AES countries,” Damiba explained.
The documentary also highlights the reasons behind military-led changes in the three countries, focusing on the expulsion of French troops and the dismantling of neocolonial agreements imposed since independence in the 1960s.
“France is the only colonial power that has done in Africa, and continues to do, what no other country dares. Neither Italy, Spain, nor England, not even the United States with all its power. Africans have been working for France since so-called independence. We are not independent,” said Léobard Houenou, an architect and political analyst from Benin.
The film draws connections to the Pan-Africanist revolution of Thomas Sankara in the 1980s. Today, Burkinabé leader Ibrahim Traoré is pursuing an ambitious program of industrialization and food sovereignty, with massive popular support, particularly from youth under 30, who make up nearly 70% of the population.
“Sankara said that once he was killed, millions of Sankaras would rise. Today there are millions around the world. Ibrahim Traoré represents the chance to put sankarism into practice. And the people are ready to support him,” said Burkinabé artist Sawadogo Pasmamde (Oceán), from the Thomas Sankara Center for Freedom and African Unity.
The film also shows daily popular mobilizations: community brigades paving streets, nightly citizen vigils at more than 20 intersections in Ouagadougou to protect Traoré, and collective acts of solidarity that reinforce the revolutionary process.
“We build our own roads. We pave, we repair, we do everything ourselves,” said Burkinabé political analyst Bayala Lianhoué Imhotep.
Activist Amadé Maiga added: “All of Africa will be part of this revolution. Countries cannot develop without revolution. Today in every province, people sit in the roundabouts to defend their president, because he represents the people. This is the path to true freedom.”
The documentary closes by underscoring the challenges of expanding the liberation movement across Africa.
“Africa is marching toward sovereignty. Patriotism is the only factor that will allow Africa to unite into one great continent. To be free, we must break from those who dominate us. I call on peoples from all continents to support Africa in this mission,” said Philippe Toyo Noudjenoume, president of the West African Peoples’ Organization (WAPO).
