On a le temps pour nous (2019) - full transcript

Upper Volta, August 1983.

A socialist revolution led by

Captain Thomas Sankara takes control.

The country is renamed Burkina Faso.

The new president

frantically implements reforms

which culminate in his assassination

on October 1987,

at the hands of Blaise Compaoré,

his long-term associate.

A dictatorship takes over.

It goes on to last 27 years.

On October 2014,

Blaise Compaoré’s regime is overturned

by a country of young people who

adhere to Sankara’s legacy.

Rapper, Smockey, a founding member

of the Balai Citoyen movement,

is at the forefront

of the anti-Compaoré dispute.

He embodies a generation

driven by Thomas Sankara’s ideology.

The slave who cannot struggle

for his emancipation

doesn't deserve our empathy.

Only fighting sets you free.

Smockey does not surrender.

A long time ago, from far away.

Smockey never surrenders.

Smockey's here again.

Always there,

when and where you need him.

Always there,

especially in times of discontent.

Smockey never surrenders

No one must ever surrender

No one must ever surrender

No longer will we all surrender

We must never surrender

Four: The bling bling are in control

Five: Social climbers have the monopoly

Six: They think their status symbols

will earn them respect

like in the Capitol

That's not the way it works

Respect comes at a price

Your possessions will lobotomize you

Your car won't earn you respect

Some people chase after brands and bling

always wanting to obey

unable to bear their pathetic existence

The weak must pay

for their insignificance

Do you think

you're worth your education?

Now you're the one with the balls

If the solution depends

on the equation

Submission depends on the position

Smockey never surrenders

No one must surrender

No one must surrender.

TIME IS ON OUR SIDE

Good evening.

How are you?

How are you?

- I'm fine.

Ho!

How are you, bro?

I saw you...

- Are you well?

Respect.

We're here.

We really didn't want to carry on

but, in the end...

We were greeting people.

I dedicate this award

to all those who fought,

to all those great fighters:

Lumumba, Thomas Sankara.

And I hope with all my heart

that our current leaders

will not trample on

the legacy that we were left

all the way

to the Pantheon of pointlessness.

These aren't my headphones.

You're used to the other ones.

- Yes, I am.

This slavery is political

Migration is a dead end

Far from yourself,

far from your rights

Never forget

you have a home to go back to

Shall we begin?

- Yes.

This slavery is political

Migration is a dead end

Far from yourself,

far from your rights

Never forget

you have a home to go to.

One more take?

- One more, yes.

Listen to that!

I missed my queue.

Go ahead.

This slavery is political

Migration is a dead end...

Let's take it from the top.

It's good, it's getting there.

AFTER THE REVOLT NOW VOTE

I think it's here...

Hold on, I might be talking rubbish.

It's here.

The fragments are there.

Sankara's grave was

somewhere around here.

That piece says:

"President, head of State."

Sankara's grave.

His associates were buried nearby.

They were also buried with him.

Thirteen.

Something strange,

a funny coincidence...

Maria, my elder sister,

died in October 1983,

the year when Sankara became

the President of Upper Volta,

which was later to become Burkina Faso.

Sankara died in October 1987

and he's buried in the same cemetery.

Strange coincidence.

I wasn't even aware of that.

We've not even done half of what...

... many freedom fighters

like Le Che or Sankara have done

or Nasser and all those people,

Modibo Keïta,

to a lesser extent.

They all contributed

to our dignities.

So, we have the opportunity

to make change a reality

if we look upon our past

without making excuses.

I saw a popular surge

of Burkina Faso citizens,

a united movement, a resurgence

of dignity, of determination

like we haven't seen for many years,

being exerted throughout the whole land.

And even drawing on their resources

to fight the putschists

who wanted

to ruin our revolution.

That is a revolution.

It's just that

then you can say whatever you want.

Some say:

"The mountain brought forth a mouse."

Some say that it's not a revolution

in terms of what happened next.

But, in that case, wouldn't we say

that the 1789 French Revolution

brought forth an empire

led by Napoleon Bonaparte?

I consider all this

as a transition phase.

The new civilian government has been

in power for two and a half years.

We have the chance

to see the process through,

including elections in 2020.

What I say is,

to succeed, you must believe.

First you believe

and then it's possible.

The killers are lying

in the first houses

close to the entrance barrier

and in the bushes lining the paths.

A grenade rips apart the leading car.

Olympe Bamouni,

the President's chief of press,

Fréderic Ziembé, legal advisor,

are killed instantly.

Sankara and nine guards

manage to take refuge

in a nearby house.

Lying face down in the corridor,

they retaliate.

But the house is surrounded.

An offensive hand grenade

is thrown inside.

An injured Sankara says:

"It's pointless,

they're looking for me."

He stands up calmly

and heads towards the door.

His body is ripped apart

by Kalashnikov fire.

The killers invade the house,

shooting everyone in sight.

Manna of creation,

put an end to our curse

of sad reflection

of the hopelessness

at the dawn of our lives.

May the dawn avenge

our Hottentot Venuses.

We're ready, soldiers.

Here are my words

as a lowly troubadour.

Whatever happens,

we are the heirs of

people like Norbert Zongo,

of people like Thomas Sankara,

of people like Joseph Ki Zerbo,

of people like Dabo Boukary,

etc, etc...

The list is long.

But we'll never be followers

of people like Blaise Compaoré,

people like François Compaoré,

people like Djibril Bassolé,

people like...

General Diendéré.

People like...

There are so many.

Our ancestors are our witnesses.

Lies will be torn apart.

The fact is, we must all go through it,

we're all going to die.

May everyone weigh their conscience.

If it's a worthy fight,

may they continue it!

If it's not a worthy fight,

may they disregard it.

One thing is for sure,

as we've always said,

Thomas Sankara is still our pioneer.

On this day on October 15 1987,

it has now been 30 years

that the justice system has been

unable to serve justice.

Somebody born that way,

who devoted his life

to fulfilling his dream.

Today, our responsibility is to ensure

that this dream becomes reality

here in Faso.

Sankara's dream must be fulfilled.

"Dare to invent the future."

These are not just words.

I want to invite to the stage

someone who has revolutionized

and contributed a lot to Burkinabe rap

and to music in general

and who no longer needs an introduction.

I'd like to invite to the stage,

the man they call Smockey!

Good evening.

Are you well?

- Yes, I'm fine.

Good evening, are you well?

Greetings, are you well?

No, you see,

how many years has it been?

There are some lyrics

that you remember but I don't

and lyrics I remember and you don't.

Yes, inevitably.

You had your favorite lyrics too.

Everything that was...

What was it called?

Just Cool Rap.

No, Just for War.

We used to rap in English...

It wasn't our thing.

Then Smockey says:

"Hold on, your phonetics are wrong!"

And he starts writing his lyrics.

- That's true!

"This is the story of a goat

who goes out one day to vote."

It's crappy, but people get it!

- Exactly!

That's an old one!

Was there as much political activity?

Upper Volta's

first democratic elections were held.

The UPV!

Yes, but the most well-known ones...

The country was divided.

There was the UNDD-RDA.

That was back

when Félix Houphouët Boigny

carried some weight in the region.

In the end, I think

the African Democratic party won.

Back then people called me "Mr. Deputy."

Because I was so interested

in these political issues:

The UNDD, the RDA,

or not the RDA or the UNDD...

This was the first democratic election

to be held in Upper Volta.

At the time of Blaise's CDP,

they tell you:

"If you want to vote,

"put a tick next to Blaise

and stick your slip in the envelope."

What if you don't want

to vote for Blaise?

"In that case, put a line through Blaise

"and stick it in the envelope."

You were screwed!

Explain that to the people.

In both cases, you've voted for Blaise.

That's why we're forced

to use elephants and lions as symbols.

That was before.

It was before?

It's still like that now.

We need to introduce a scale system

so people can find their way around it.

We say: "This is what we call

"the minimum IQ of the masses."

If we don't reach this level of IQ,

let's not even mention democracy!

You say that these people

must have a certain IQ level.

That's bullshit!

Between 80% and 90%

of intellectuals have resigned.

On the other hand, these know-it-alls

are the closest enemies...

They're the closest friends

of these dictatorial regimes!

The closest friends

of this repressive system,

this system that locks everything down.

Those people work harder

to maintain the system

than the peasants

who understand everything

but have no way of taking action.

Despite not having this information,

these guys are far more objective

and far more realistic

than all these pseudo-intellectuals

who went to school,

useless idiots who are

up to their eyes in diplomas.

That's the reality.

We've set fire to the Assembly.

We've set fire to the Assembly.

It's over.

With fire you can burn everything,

you can wipe everything away .

They call me Smoke.

They call me Smoke.

Some people even say I'm crazy.

But I couldn't care less.

They say I'm crazy

because I talk to myself.

But in fact, I don't.

I'm talking to my buddy,

my friend, my confident.

His name is Blaise.

I tell him everything

but he doesn't say much.

He wants to make me think

that his mind is working.

One night, he wanted

to introduce me to a friend.

I think his name was Sankara.

This guy was neurotic, a real wacko,

a guy who always has

something to say,

even when there's nothing to say.

So, I said to Blaise:

"I like your friend, but...

"He talks too much.

"He also thinks too much.

"I think he goes too far.

"Let me speak to him

with the weight of my experience."

So, I encourage him.

Not too much.

Since that day,

I've never seen him again.

Another night, he wanted

to introduce me to another friend.

Zongo.

I said:

"Blaise, let me stop you right there.

"Every time you introduce someone to me,

"I never see him again."

So, when he persisted

with his famous Mr. Article 37,

I said: "Stop!"

But too late.

Now it's Blaise who I don't see anymore.

My wounds aren't healing.

My wounds aren't closing up.

My wounds are half-open,

coming apart and oozing pus,

stinking out the mascara.

Throughout the whole show,

before the fall of Blaise,

I mean, when we were performing

in front of the audience,

you felt this sense

of tension,

giving you the impression that...

In fact, it felt like we were in...

People were afraid,

they were afraid

when they were watching you.

They were afraid

that something might suddenly happen.

I think it was also very daring.

Very daring to call out the name

of the President in a show

while he's still in power

and accuse him of certain serious acts.

It's daring to do that within a show.

All day, the riot police

have been hunting down young people

and Balai Citoyen members.

So, it was very heated!

They're each devising a strategy

to hold out as long as possible

as the objective was to camp out

in the area surrounding

the Rond Point des Nations Unies,

in order to wait

in front of the Assembly.

All night, it was heating up

and, around 6 PM,

I was on the Place de la Révolution

and Boukary le Lion was there

talking to the crowd

and struggling to contain them.

Hundreds of riot police were

ready to charge.

I was asked to address the crowd.

I had to go up there

and explain to people.

In the end,

despite many difficulties, it worked.

We said: "It's not avoidance, it's taking

a step back to come back stronger."

"We'll all return to the

Place de la Révolution tomorrow.

"And with strength of will,

we'll succeed."

Many people started

to agree with this approach

and they started leaving the site.

That's when my telephone rings.

It was the playwright

giving me a roasting:

"You're being unprofessional.

"People are waiting,

the play should've started...

"We're an hour late!

"You're not here.

You've missed the sound check."

I said:

"Are you aware of what's going on?"

"No, I don't want to know.

"A professional keeps things

separate, etc."

It was such a big deal!

If my reality had met fiction,

her fiction hadn’t met any reality.

It wasn't yet within her reach.

She hadn't understood...

Later, she understood

the severity of the situation.

It was true rebellion of the people.

It was serious business.

It was hard for her to believe

that everything we'd experienced

and created on the stage

was happening right in front

of our eyes. She was blind.

Few people really believe that culture

comes before change.

Beyond being the change itself.

They say that because it sounds good

but they don't believe it.

And yet...

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

We haven't slept for a week.

We've fueled rebellion

in every neighborhood

and on the UN roundabout

and the Place de la Révolution.

This morning we set off

from the Rond Point du 2 Octobre,

we rallied people

to do the rounds and come back here

to force the riot police

to let us through.

At some point, the Army will be

with us and they have to.

ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF OFFICE

We need political commitment

We need leaders

who go further than cash

Who go further for Africa

We need leaders who see further

We need leaders who have...

We need political commitment

We need to take risks

We need someone to take risks,

we need political commitment.

Something like that.

As soon as the kids saw Smockey,

they came to him.

That's sweet!

Hi, kids.

How's it going?

Come say hello to your uncle!

- Come say hello to me.

Say hi to your uncle.

How are you?

Sweet!

Fist bump.

Gimme a fist bump!

Our country or death?

Our country or death?

- We shall win.

Not loud enough!

Our country or death?

We shall win!

- That's it!

That sounds more determined.

What did we have previously

with the Balai Citoyen?

We had strong words and actions.

Lots of people believed

in the Balai Citoyen's message.

Wasn't the revolution a strong action?

- No, I mean before that.

You were able to rally

lots of Burkinabe citizens

and even beyond that.

We were expecting something better.

With the revolution.

At least, after the fateful day

of the revolution.

Whether or not I want to be,

I'm a leader.

Some consider me to be a leader.

So, I don't want to send

people's children to the slaughter.

I'm no expert in politics.

That's the last thing we should do.

After trying everything else.

I'm no expert.

When we protested

to get the Army on our side,

the next day,

Balai supporters came.

They surrounded the military.

They said

that they were going to force entry.

You were there, weren't you?

- Yes, I was there.

We were there with megaphones.

What happened?

We were walking around,

and we heard

that all the Army generals are inside,

they were having a powwow.

We exchanged words and said:

"What shall we do?

"Isn't it better to speak to them?"

So we did.

And they told us

they can guarantee

that Blaise will resign

and they'll secure it,

everything we asked for.

I said: "In the meantime,

who'll be in charge of operations?"

In the interim.

They had to decide

who should be in charge.

I'm not talking about a transition.

I’m pointing out

the basic functions of an army.

The Army defends the people!

They must face up to

their responsibility to defend the people

until the people make a decision.

This is all that we saw,

in all our naivety!

The soldiers weren't left in peace.

With Kalashnikovs!

They say it's up to us to protect them.

"What?

Soldiers can protect themselves!"

They say: "No."

If we don't protect them,

they don't know

what can happen in the crowd.

So we, members of the Balai,

surrounded the guys

to protect them

and get them to the Place de la Nation.

To address the people.

My bro Sans'k came to see me and said:

"Smockey, is it OK

if we stand with them?"

I said: "You know,

we must take responsibility.

"This is our commitment.

"Let's do what we have to

and then move on."

They just dropped everything.

they made their announcement,

they filmed it.

That's how

the Balai Citoyen sold the revolution.

At one point,

it was a chaotic and urgent situation.

We had to be on the ground.

Whenever the situation commanded it,

we were there.

Even when we smelled a rat, we were there.

Even if there were only ten of us.

But the message in your lyrics

was more convincing.

That's not true.

- It is.

More convincing than which lyrics?

I don't know.

What's the most recent album you've heard?

Which album?

I always stick to the same themes, man.

I don't change.

Until proven otherwise,

on each show, I say:

"Was the government in place now

voted in by popular consensus, yes or no?

"Is it here as a result

of transparent elections?

"Did the Burkinabe people elect it?"

Yes.

- So, it's legitimate!

Why do you want me to hit the streets

and whip up a second revolution?

We wanted

things to be done democratically

and Burkinabe people have the right

to choose their own president,

their representative

for no more than two terms.

That's what we have today.

In 2020,

those who aren't happy will have a vote.

They'll vote for someone else.

Betrayal of the rebellious mind

Democracy belongs to us all

Security measures

- Misconduct

Incompetence

- Poor leadership

The putsch trial...

Listen, he says:

"Colonial mentality.

"You're a colonial man.

"You were once a slave.

"You've already been set free

"but you've never set yourself free.

"Exactly.

"They do all that.

"They even exaggerate what they do.

Exactly.

"That's why they think that

they're better than their brothers."

"That's right.

"They don't like their own.

"They prefer outsiders.

That's right.

"They sit in air-conditioned rooms

"and they're far from their homeland.

"That's right.

"The judge puts on his wig

and sentences his brother to jail.

"That's right.

"They're proud of their names

while they take the names of slaves.

"That's right.

"Colonial mentality.

Listen to me!

"Colonial mentality.

"Mr. Ransome, listen to me.

"Mr. Guillaume, listen to me.

"Mr. Mohamed, listen to me.

"Mr. Anglican..."

They're talking about you.

Mr. Mohamed, that's you!

"Mr. Anglican, listen to me.

"Mr. Catholic, listen to me.

"We're still in Africa,

"so listen to me."

I'll bet it's great.

The needle needs to go

much further along.

That's so fucking old.

I remember that.

Dad used to dance to that

on our terrace.

The Horoya Band's second concert.

That's old music.

It needs moving on a little.

Sir.

You were born around 1938 in Bondigui.

You're 44 years old, Voltaic.

You're an economic affairs advisor

and a Samandin resident.

You're a Gounghin resident, married

and the father of seven children.

You've never been sentenced.

My father was offered

the job of minister

at least twice.

He refused each time.

The third time,

Sankara and Blaise came to the house

to offer it to him

and he accepted.

As soon as he accepted

the minister's job,

anonymous letters were written, etc.

So, he was brought before the TPR,

the Popular Revolutionary Tribunals,

to be judged.

He was under house arrest

for almost two years.

He was given food to eat at home.

And then he was found not guilty.

The problem is, it really affected him.

It broke him, in fact.

After that, he didn't want to work

in government anymore.

He went back to his job at the ECOWAS

before eventually retiring.

And then he died.

But all this broke him.

It broke his family.

So, they blamed...

For a big part of the family,

Sankara was to blame for this.

That's why it's difficult to understand

why I'm a Sankara supporter.

For me, that's not the problem.

I don't want to look through

my own little individual prism,

I want to look through

a collective prism.

And I want to believe

in this man's humanity

in terms of his actions,

the ambitions he had for his country

and the integrity he represents

right up to the present day.

He didn't serve his own interests.

And that's enough to give me faith

in the human initiative

that he planned to launch.

The rest of it is political games.

He had to turn a blind eye

to certain things.

Beyond that...

He's still a great man.

I lived in the Zone du Bois,

it's not a small neighborhood,

it's swanky.

Daddy's boys, daddy's girls...

I was only surrounded

by people like that.

They tried everything to control me,

but failed.

Even my father

has never been able to control me.

Thinking about it,

I'm quite proud of that.

My father didn't understand.

He can't understand

that his son can be calm one minute

and then straight out with it the next.

And everyone stays calm.

I don't know.

I've never felt comfortable

in that world.

Perhaps because, in some way,

I had a wider outlook.

There's nothing special

about material wealth.

There were some remarkable things

for someone of my age, but...

Something wasn't right,

something about these people

didn't ring true.

Because, they lived in an environment

that they knew inside out,

that they pretended not to see,

because they were

only interested in their own.

When I look

at what these people have become today,

that's what I hate the most.

I don't envy them at all.

Even though I'm far from home,

I have rights

And just like you, I have rights

And it's the same blood flowing

in you and me

In you and me.

"Even though I'm far from home,

I have rights.

"Yes, just like you.

Yes."

I prefer:

"And just like you."

Yes, just like you...

- No, the "yes" isn't a long note.

You're insisting to someone

that you have rights and he's surprised.

"Yes, like you, I have rights too."

Yes, like you I have rights

instead of "and just like you."

And it's the same blood flowing

in you and me

In you and in me.

"See, I have rights!"

I heard a real African, man.

That was no honky.

See, I have rights!

- Exactly!

Or we can sing it

to a Patrick Bruel tune.

And if I'm far away from my rights,

I have a home...

"And if I'm far away from my rights,

I have a home."

If I'm ever far away from my rights,

I can always stay at home.

Where I'm respected.

Frantz Fanon said

that man on earth is nothing

if he's not slave to a cause,

the cause of the people,

the cause of justice,

the cause of freedom.

The same Frantz Fanon said

that it's up to each generation

to find their mission,

accomplishing it or betraying it.

Our leaders have betrayed us.

I think that many of our leaders

don't even know they're on a mission!

They don't yet know

that they're on a mission.

But what I also wanted to say,

is that migrants are also being betrayed

in a way.

It takes courage

to face up to all this danger.

It takes courage

to accept all this suffering.

But, at the same time,

whatever people may say,

it's also a form of cowardice.

We must be honest.

If you had the capacity

to bear all this suffering

to get to the other side,

to cross the Mediterranean,

you can stay and fight with us here,

so we can change the country.

Paradise is not Las Vegas,

it's not Paris,

it's not Hong Kong

or any of the places we see on TV.

Paradise is here in Burkina Faso.

Always searching for tomorrow

Sentenced to poverty,

I hold out my hand to you

Here, it's rough & tough

and if you want profit

You must fight to put food on the table

Here, it's Babylon, Baghdad, Islamabad

No laws, no faith,

here there is no God

When we say we're together,

we're in the shit

We're in it together,

all in the shit

We're slaving, rhyming, not bragging

We deal here, we kill here,

there are no bonuses here

If you're weak, you're dead

There's no crime here

When you sleep, you're dead

There are no dreams here

Hey family, what do you say?

What are we looking for?

We're waiting for a lifeline

from God or his prophet

Waiting for it all,

nobody knows what we're waiting for

But we're waiting

Anyhow, we have the time

They have the cash

but we have the time

Fine wheels

Fine women

They have the watches

but we have the time

They have the cash

Fine wheels

Fine women

The wheel isn't turning,

somebody jammed it

Someone's having fun

rolling the fucking dice

Someone's having fun

Someone's having fun

rolling the fucking dice

The wheel isn't turning,

somebody jammed it

Someone's having fun

rolling the fucking dice

Someone's on their way to

Kosyam Palace...

Is politics a game?

- No!

Is it a game?

- No!

It's on the people's shoulders.

If you want to speak

in French or in Moore, feel free!

You have the floor tonight.

You'll point out problems

and together, we'll find the solutions.

If you have anything to say.

What's the problem

with the roads in Karpala?

What solutions can we suggest?

And above all, how can we mobilize

for Karpala?

From Karpala to Rayongo,

everything has been sold.

The section at the back

has been handed over to bigwigs

who are building

apartment blocks and shops.

The hospital septic tanks

have been there barely two weeks.

They're in the open air

and, when you walk past, it stinks.

Can you imagine

this hospital's wastewater

flowing through a whole neighborhood?

I was planning to ask the mayor here

but, as you can see,

he isn't here tonight.

I was passing by

and I saw the audience sitting here.

I stopped to find out

what was happening.

I heard you discussing

our neighborhood.

Wherever you go, people are discussing

our neighborhood, Karpala.

When it rains in Karpala,

you pray to God

that even your worst enemy

doesn't have to go there.

Last time, my six meters of tarmac here

was turned into the Tanghin Barrage.

On Friday, an old man

wearing his white prayer gown,

wanted to pass by

and he fell into the water.

When I saw that, I cried.

Apparently, we have a local mayor,

but he does nothing for us.

In return for our votes,

he promised to resolve the problems.

We voted for him and he took power.

But he only looks after his own

and we suffer.

We should've stayed home on election day

and let him fend for himself.

What's the point of voting

when you get up the day after

to find desolation?

We know it's not an easy country,

but you must keep your promises

in the name of your ancestors!

That's all I have to say.

You know,

we must change.

Putting on the pressure is good,

but nothing has happened yet.

You must be the politicians,

you must go into politics.

You must be the mayors,

there's no competition.

Those people have no faith.

It's the same old parties

that have been there forever.

They're old parties.

They're old crocodiles.

You must chase them away!

You must agree to take

your destiny into your own hands.

The young guy said it earlier.

He said: "We've fought,

we've put up barricades,

"but we're not ready,

the neighborhood must change."

You must learn how to elect people

in your neighborhood,

people who are aware of your problems.

Not people who've come from elsewhere.

People who've already done

something for the neighborhood.

In any case, citizens from the zone.

If they sort things out,

it's good for them too.

But here people from I don't know where,

who are elected as mayors and

we don't even know how they got there.

And they do nothing!

Because they refuse

to meddle in politics.

You must meddle in politics!

We're here as citizens,

so, we also have the right

to be concerned about public issues.

Someone said to me:

"We must take responsibility."

That's taking responsibility!

There are young people,

people with potential

who can change

this neighborhood in one year.

What has this government done

in almost three years?

They say they've done a lot,

but it's almost nothing.

They're old crocodiles!

That's also the truth!

We need people who aren't afraid.

We need commitment to change things.

I want to talk about this commitment.

And you need it

to make sacrifices for others.

Those people don't have it.

Against the humiliating bondage

of a thousand years

Rapacity came from afar

to subjugate them

for a hundred years

Against the cynical malice

in the shape of neo-colonialism

and its petty local servants

Many gave in

and certain others resisted

But the frustrations,

the successes, the sweat, the blood

Have fortified our courageous people

and fertilized its heroic struggle...

Security measures

Misconduct.

- Incompetence

Poor leadership.

- The putsch trial...

Things have been slightly sorted out,

victories have been possible,

there's no reason for it to stop there.

These victories must continue.

And with them, they'll bring

their share of changes in mentality.

People will ultimately realize

that nothing is already predestined,

the dice have not been cast.

And once they've been cast,

we can cast them again.

We can reconfigure the game.

And it'll all be OK.

Each person

will approach things critically.

I believe in that, I feel that.

When I exchange views with people,

I sense that their frustration

is partly tangible

but also, I sense their awareness

that anything is possible.

In some way, we've arrived

at a point of no return.

Which means that...

We've just got on board, in fact.

People are on the train

but they don't know

when we'll arrive at a station.

They think that they're...

I don't know what train

they think they're on,

but this train will arrive somewhere.

That's it.

I want to believe

that it will stop at the right station.

In one way or another,

it can happen any time,

anyhow.

That's not important.

Time is on our side.

It's our strength.

President Thomas Sankara

Burkina Faso,

An honest and worthy

Faso representative

A current resident of the cemetery

A revolutionary

butchered by a traitor

His bones are resting

in Dagnoen Cemetery

Just as white as Nobert Zongo's

Vile imperialist, sad tightrope walker

Political strategists,

methodical killings

It's the Old Man and the Medal

For our forefathers, it's chaos

They don't know what to say anymore

The kids of today have no respect

for us citizens.

But where are we?

We are told to be perfect consumers

They order you to speed up

They order to me to capitulate

We're beasts of burden

mixed up with the losers

And the bells ring out for freedom

And the bells ring out for dignity

And the bells ring out...

Captain Noël Isidore

Thomas Sankara

More justice!

We want justice!

We're fed up!

We're fed up!

TIME IS ON OUR SIDE