The Devoted Youth of Djenne / Les Fourmis de Djenné Devoted Youth of Djenné is a documentary film which showcases youth committed to the communal activity that preserves a public cultural icon: The Grand Mosque of Djenné, which is both a religious symbol and the greatest existing example of Sub-Saharan Africa mud architecture.
This ten-minute short film shows the community of Djenné engaged in the many stages of the plastering of the mosque. This annual event shows the solidarity, coordinated tasks and unity of purpose that have preserved this repository of cultural heritage. The US Embassy in Mali provided funding assistance for the preparation of the clay, which must begin one month in advance of plastering, which allows the necessary fermentation of the clay.
Filmed during the annual plastering of the Grand Mosque of Djenné in April 2019, the documentary was directed by Mohamed Dayfour Diawara, with the assistance and support of young people from the city of Djenné.
Mohamed Diawara started out as a trainee in camera assistance, subtitling and editing with training by Instruments 4 Africa. This young graduate from the Balla Fasséké Kouyaté Conservatory, in turn, continues to train other young people in multi-media during the Instruments 4 Africa caravans organized and financed by the US State Department’s capacity -building programs.
Instruments for Africa has been actively involved in promoting Mali's cultural and artistic values for the past seven years through training, technical support, and the empowerment of young cultural players to make Mali’s various cultures/Malian culture a bulwark against conflicts and discrimination and violent extremism.
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