Check out this dreamy "The Origins of Dissan Village" trilogy mini-series. Malians telling their own stories in their OWN words. Part I brings you into the world of Dissan, Part II gets you settled, and Part III is addressing the issue of social justice...

Siaka "Jeliba" Kouyaté comes from a long line of traditional West African griot storytellers. Here he introduces the concept of what it means to have this role and how it relates to the film:

SOMETIMES GLOBAL CHANGE STARTS WITH LOCAL ACTION

I NI CÉ !! / GREETINGS AND WELCOME TO A FILM ABOUT THE FUTURE OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE ON SEED&SPARK!

WHY THIS FILM MATTERS

QUESTION: What if you lived in a place that did not have the means to supply you and your family and friends with FOOD in times of drought and meager harvests?

         Such a scenario in the coming decades in the developed world is not as far-fetched as you may think. The good news is that you would not be alone in such a struggle and that you have friends already working this moment on your behalf -- you just may not know it yet...

         For in the dry Sahel lands of southern Mali in West Africa, the village of Dissan faces these conditions every day, battling against food shortage, extreme poverty, and climate change. The spreading desertification of the region threatens the very survival of its inhabitants, as well as all vegetation and animals. But a fearless local farmer, Burama Sangaré, and his impassioned American anthropologist friend of over twenty years, Dr. Scott Lacy, may just have found a way to end famine in this region and beyond.

Leading Dissan farmer, Burama Sangaré

"NYOGON" MEANS "TOGETHER"

   Nyogon: together is a feature length documentary film with a story and footage spanning over two decades. The film is now in post-production from Dreaming Monk Productions, in association with the NGO African Sky and the San Francisco Film Society 'Filmmaker360' project development program.

   The film's setting is in the dry Sahel lands of the southern region of the storied nation of Mali in West Africa. It will feature three languages: English, French, and Bambara: the main tongue of southern Mali. In this language, "nyogon" (written as "ɲɔgɔn fɛ" in Bambara and pronounced "nee-yo-gawn fay") means together. Coincidentally, "nyo" means millet/grain. This film features a type of sorghum grain variety that has manifested and spread through the power of community, so it is only fitting that the film's title reflect the relationship between seed and community. As the Malian adage attests, "One finger cannot lift a stone."

Dissan village is located in southern Mali in West Africa. Farmer Burama Sangaré with his younger brother Yacouba Sangaré and long-time friend and collaborator Dr. Scott Lacy. A local teacher speaks with a women's literacy group outside Bamako earlier this year.

Set to HD to view trailer about participatory plant-breeding!

OKAY, THERE ARE MANY POWERFUL FOOD DOCS OUT THERE,

WHAT MAKES THIS FILM UNIQUE?

1. Groundbreaking non-GMO Agricultural Research in West Africa

This film details what participatory plant-breeding (PPB) is, its scientific origins, its farmer-first ethical foundation, its success fighting hunger in sub-Saharan West Africa without agribusiness and global market influence, its potential to work in other regions, as well as some serious challenges it faces under current plant-variety regulations.

2. Intimate and Inside Access

Director/producer Michael Axtell has known several main Nyogon characters since his first trip to Mali in 2008 and he has known Dr. Scott Lacy since his time as an anthropology undergrad at UC Santa Barbara over a decade ago, which has blessed the film with intimate access to characters and locations. This has yielded very candid interviews and exclusive footage.

    Storied ancestor of Dissan village, N'Pan, visits the film in spirit form

3. Poetic Storytelling

This is a different type of story about food security that will take you on a reflective journey to understand sustainable plant-breeding science, the power of community, farmer ethics, and their impact on Mali and beyond. This will include:

- Traditional forms of oral storytelling, poetry, and proverbs that pace the story, delivered by local Malians

- A non-linear narrative structure

- Minimal use of infographics

- Long meditative shots that pay homage to the cadence of life in rural Mali 

- Impromptu discussions with African and Western plant-breeding scientists embedded in Mali

- Traditional ceremonies, music, and dance involving local villagers

- Candid interviews over the years with Dr. Lacy about life, love, the history and future of humankind, and finding higher purpose and meaning

- Personal discussions with Burama and other villagers about farmer ethics, climate change, family values, religion and spirituality, and politics, in their own words

- Rarely seen footage of Mali

- Dreamy sequences and montages

Dr. Scott Lacy in Dissan earlier this year, 22 years after first setting foot there

4. Character-Driven Story of Transformation that Stands the Seeds of Time

In Nyogon, we see the main characters grow, evolve, and transform over 20 years of film footage! Scott has spent big chunks of time every year living and conducting research in Mali for the better part of the last two decades, speaks fluent Bambara, and has worked with Burama and several other film characters since first arriving there in 1994 as a Peace Corps volunteer. Scott is not a professor who spends a few days "in the field", shakes hands, and then vanishes forever back to his office desk; rather, he has given his heart and soul to his efforts in Mali, bypassing a more normal career and life path. His collaboration with his ja tigi (or brother's keeper), Burama, has survived sickness and disease on both their parts, being thousands of miles apart for parts of each year, recent political coups, stalling talks involving international plant variety governing bodies, and the unfortunate end of Peace Corps Mali due to ongoing militant action in parts of Mali. Burama experiences personal transformation, as well, that along with Scott and others, can inspire us all to act toward promoting social justice in our respective communities. 

Director/producer Michael Axtell with his host-brother and Mali namesake, Yacouba Sangaré

5. Deep Roots in Visual Anthropology 

Both Dr. Lacy and Director Michael Axtell have a background in ethnography and anthropology, each with a passion for illuminating the value of traditional knowledge and wisdom, which informs their respective crafts. For this film, Michael spent six weeks in Mali during the course of two trips there, embedding himself in the culture with the locals before taking out a camera to film. After his first trip to Mali and even receiving a Bambara name, he felt that it was his moral obligation as a filmmaker to be of service as a storyteller, by giving a voice to the characters and communities in the film. Traveling and working in Mali has taken Axtell on his own inner journey beyond anything he's ever imagined. 

a "Chiwara", or mythical farming antelope/beast in Bambara lore

THE ANCESTORS HELPED US REACH POST-PRODUCTION!

NOW WE NEED YOUR HELP TO FINISH!

Principal photography wrapped after an amazing two-week trip to Mali this year! In order to accomplish our post-production goals, we've set the following funding benchmarks:

• Minimum goal: $15,000

This provides us with the resources to finish our film and create a screener, which will allow for a film festival premiere. These expenses include editorial, color correction, graphics/animations, translation/transcription/subtitling from Bambara to English, sound mixing and design, music composition and music rights to pay local Malian artists.

• Stretch goal: $20,000

This provides us with additional marketing and promotional resources to make the film distribution-ready and able to show the film to audiences at numerous festivals, community and like-minded organization screenings, as well as educational settings such as high schools and universities. In addition, the film would be prepared for online distribution.

King Sundiata, founder of the storied Mali Empire in the 13th Century A.D. 

IT TAKES A VILLAGE.

FOLLOW THE FILM ON SEED&SPARK AND SPREAD THE WORD!

    We greatly appreciate you taking the time to learn more about this project and campaign.

OTHER WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE whatever your heart allows:

FOLLOW THE CAMPAIGN on Seed&Spark 

SHARE THE LINK to this campaign with your peers and colleagues 

LIKE and SHARE our Facebook page and posts

JOIN the NGO African Sky and get involved in its various humanitarian projects

GIVE AN OLD FASHIONED PHONE CALL to your nearest and dearest who would be interested in joining us! You're surely a storyteller in your own right, so feel free to share this with your community!

   Because of the sheer immensity of the story and dozens of hours of video and audio to be edited, we need your help. With your helping hand, Nyogon can educate, enlighten, and inspire social change on a local and global level - inspirited with the power of community seen in the village of Dissan and by the partnerships Dr. Lacy, Burama, and their colleagues have built over the years. 

 Jeliba Kouyaté comes from a long lineage of "griots", traditional West Africa storytellers

I NI CÉ !!  / THANK YOU !!

ALA KA HÉRÉ DE I MA  /  MAY THE UNIVERSE GIVE YOU PEACE (traditional Bambara blessing)