Past Film/Video | Visiting Filmmakers | Contemporary Screen

Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions

(Dani Kouyaté, 2024) 

Dani Kouyaté in person

US Premiere

A black-and-white image of a man sitting on a throne with a rifle across this lap. He is wearing a knit hat and a white robe.

Katanga is a powerful, Afro-noir thriller from one of Africa’s most celebrated filmmakers.

For more than 50 years, Burkina Faso has been an important hub of Africa’s rich arthouse film scene, and director Dani Kouyaté is one of its biggest names. His newest film, Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions, is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the timeless and universal story of power, political intrigue, and ambition. The film is rendered in black and white, and the actors speak Mooré, one of the dominant languages in Burkina Faso. After a failed conspiracy against the crown, King Pazouknaam names his cousin Katanga as head of the armed forces. Pushed by his ambitious wife, Katanga kills the king and takes the throne—and then there is no deed too low to keep his grip on power. In Mooré with English subtitles. (113 mins., 4K DCP)

IMAGE CAPTION
Katanga: The Dance of Scorpions, courtesy of the filmmaker.

"Shakespeare is African.…Shakespeare is always working between the visible and invisible, between the natural and supernatural…that is a universe that is completely African."
Dani Kouyaté

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The event is supported by an Ohio State Arts and Humanities Large Grant from the College of Arts and Sciences and cosponsored by the School of Music and Department of African American and African Studies.

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY 
National Endowment for the Arts 
Ohio Humanities

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY 
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY 
Greater Columbus Arts Council
 
The Wexner Family 
Institute of Museum and Library Services
 
Mellon Foundation 
Every Page Foundation 
Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts 
CampusParc 
Nationwide Foundation 
Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme 
The Columbus Foundation 
Axium Packaging

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY 
Ohio State Energy Partners 
Ohio History Fund/Ohio History Connection 
David Crane and Elizabeth Dang 
Melissa Gilliam and William Grobman 
Rebecca Perry Damsen and Ben Towle

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Past Film/Video

Katanga: The Dance of the Scorpions