Kirikou and the Sorceress

Introduction

The film is based on a West African folk tale. It is set in a rural West Africa of stories and folktales, in which monsters, sorceresses and magic live side by side with villagers in their huts.

The film has been made with computer animation to look like traditional cel animation. The designs of the characters and the landscape have been based on traditional African art as well as on the work of Egyptian and French art. The rich variety of colours express the West African setting, as do the African actors' voices for the characters and the music composed on traditional instruments.

Synopsis

The tiny Kirikou is born into an African village upon which a sorceress called Karaba has cast a terrible spell: the spring has dried up, the villagers are being blackmailed, the men of the village have either been kidnapped or have mysteriously disappeared. 'She eats them!' the superstitious villagers declare.

Karaba is a cruel woman, surrounded by her fearless servants her 'fetishes'. But, as soon as he is born, Kirikou wants to rid the village of Karaba's curse and understand the cause of her wickedness. His adventure-filled voyage leads Kirikou to the only person who knows the truth behind Karaba's wickedness, the Wise Man of the Mountain.