It is a performances centric movie

Best movie ever!

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

. . . though perhaps the worst, too, as I think this could be the only one I've run across from there. I did not learn anything about BF while going to school K-18. However, I once had a computer Mah Jongg game in which the backs of the tiles were the flags of various countries, which is how I first came across the name "Burkina Faso." At the time, I thought this was a cool name for a country, and I still think so. Unfortunately, I don't know what these two words mean, and this movie doesn't tell, either. Worse yet, it is in French, so one has to decipher subtitles to try to understand it. Further, all the characters are black people (making racist comments about white people now and then), and their names are not French (like "Pierre" or "Marie"). They are simply strings of letters impossible to pronounce, and not as short or predictable as even those long names you see in the credits of all the Thai movies out nowadays. For instance, the doctor who bandages Mocktar's leg injury is played by an actor named Ngonn Dingainlemgoto Alram Nguebnan! The one cool aspect of this film is the actual gold mines, which consist of tiny whack-a-mole type slits in a grouping of desert mogul bumps through which the barefoot miners descend 120 feet equipped with a sack, a rock hammer, and cheap flashlights attached to their head scarves, never knowing whether they will find enough air to breathe or be buried by a collapsing shaft. If they're lucky enough to make it to the service with a bag of gold ore, they must then pulverize it by hand with a mortar and pestle. Watch this if you want to see what life in the 1100s was like.

Dreams of dust is a wonderful film whose title has metaphoric richness. The title is apt as throughout the entire film we witness a ruthless, sensible struggle carried out by poor,hapless people in order to gain prosperity which would enable them to escape from the clutches of poverty.This film is set in Africa and makes a highly effective use of African landscape especially in the scenes where nature comes face to face with human beings.It is for this reasons that scenes involving dust and mines have been shot with great care,insight,maturity and wisdom.In his first film,French director Laurent Salgues has worked hard to give a heart and a soul to the image of Africa.The proof of his genius is evident in the manner he has highlighted the plight of poor African miners who are unable to possess gold for themselves even though there are numerous occasions when they get a chance to own the lucrative yellow metal.Africa has been shown in all its vivid details which enables viewers to establish a sensitive parallel between gold and dust.

Director Laurent Salgues' 'Buried Dreams', opens with the strange sight of people emerging from the earth, as if planted there. This the first among many dream-like images, from Cinematographer Crystel Fournier that Salgues uses to draw us into a cinematic netherworld, skirting the line between the fantastic and a world that at times seems all too real: gritty, greedy and dangerous. The camera also reveals the landscape of an internal world, written on the faces and etched in the hearts and minds of his characters. 'Buried Dreams' is a semi-allegorical tale, its 'Everyman' is Mocktar, played with dignity and nobility by Makena Diop. Mocktar is a refugee from Niger, a 'man with a past'- like so many of classic film/literary characters: men not particularly striving for anything as much as escaping themselves through struggle and survival. Mocktar seeks employment in an Essakane mining camp, run by a greedy, and cowardly buffoon.Here 'mines' are holes in the desert, dug straight down without supports or safety equipment. Miners are given flashlights that they strap to their heads for light and digging tools.All of Mocktar's co-workers are digging for tiny scraps of gold in order to survive, but we learn that they are seeking a currency of another kind, dreams of a better life: marriage, escape & education, restoration of family fortune. In other words, hope. Mocktar befriends Coumba (played with quiet strength by Fatou Tall-Salgues) a young window & mother, attempting to raise her young daughter, amid the squalor and poverty of a desert work camp. Coumba dreams of sending her small daughter away to Paris, to get an education and a better life.Don't miss seeing this rare and beautiful film.

I was able to see this film at the Sundance Film Festival, where the director afterward made poignant commentary on the film, his first work. The movie is set in northern Burkina Faso, where a man from neighboring Niger unexpectedly shows up to work long, hard hours in a gold mine for basically nothing. He has evidently experienced some tragedy in the past, which often haunts him as he goes about his daily tasks. The film explores the man's ability to cope with past mistakes while ensuring a better future for those around him.The film itself is beautifully filmed on location, mostly with Burkinabe or other west Africans. The film does a good job of capturing the misery that is most Burkinabe's lives. The director wanted to send the message that Burkina Faso, like many African nations, has the opportunity to be wealthy, but has problems with foreign intervention and greed, and local corruption. This theme is heavy throughout the movie. However, the film does run a bit slow, with many instances of scenes where nothing is going on for several minutes. If you are an artsy, foreign film lover, than you will probably like this film. If not, it is unlikely that it will capture your attention.