Film Movement has released the trailer for the restored version of "Samba Traoré," Idrissa Ouédraogo's 1992 drama. The film opens in U.S. theaters on August 28, 2026, under the company's Film Movement Classics label, followed by a home release on February 5, 2027.
A co-production between Burkina Faso, France, and Switzerland, the story follows a man who survives a botched gas station robbery and flees to his village in rural Burkina Faso with a suitcase of stolen cash. He builds a new life there — a marriage to Saratou, the affection of her ten-year-old son, a bar opened with a childhood friend — while hiding where the money came from. What he cannot hide from is his own conscience, as the guilt of the crime and the fear of being found out close in on him.
Bakary Sangaré stars as Samba, with Mariam Kaba, Abdoulaye Komboudri, Irène Tassembédo and Moumouni Campaoré. Ouédraogo wrote the screenplay with Jacques Arhex and Santiago Amigorena.
"Samba Traoré" won the Silver Bear at the 1993 Berlin International Film Festival.
Ouédraogo, who was born in Banfora in 1954 and died in Ouagadougou in 2018, had already taken the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1990 for "Tilaï," a year after "Yaaba" screened at Directors' Fortnight.
The restoration came out of Locarno Pro's Heritage Online program and its Histoire(s) du Cinéma strand, and premiered at the festival's 77th edition. The original elements are held at the Cinémathèque Suisse on behalf of Waka Films.