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GUESTS: Danny Glover, actor and Executive Producer and Joslyn Barnes, Executive Producer of Bamako

Opening at the Nuart Theater in LA for a one week run, Bamako is a new film set in Mali, which explores the destruction of Africa at the hands of global financial institutions. Bamako is the capital and largest city in Mali and was the site of one of the regional World Social Forums in 2006. Set inside the courtyard of a modest home in the city, the film focuses on a court trial over the course of several days which pits African civil society against the World Bank and IMF. At stake is the question of whether the bank and the IMF have been the source of Africa’s problems of mass impoverishment. Throughout the film we hear eloquent and impassioned critiques by writers, farmers, and teachers, of how indebtedness to the World Bank has underfunded social services in African nations, and how structural adjustment plans by the IMF have privatized these services, leading to a lack of employment, education, health care and more. In the backdrop we witness the lives of ordinary residents that continue despite the public trial in their courtyard. Bamako is written and directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, and Executive Produced by Joslyn Barnes and actor Danny Glover.

Bamako will be featuring for a 1 week run at the Nuart Theater starting today June 1st. Danny Glover will be present after the 7 pm screening this evening to answer questions, and to introduce the 9 pm screening. The Nuart is located at 11272 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Los Angeles.

For more information, visit www.bamako-film.com.