Intended initially as a documentary, Sissako realized that such an attempt couldn't be realized when people would not be able to speak freely with jihadis still present in the area. The production was moved to Mauritania and changed into a fictional accounting reliant on the events which took place in Mali.
To Sissako, himself a Muslim, the other hostage in Timbuktu is Islam. He says he doesn’t recognise his own faith in Ansar Dine. Their violence “makes Islam into something imaginary”.
Like Sissako's superb 2002 film, Waiting for Happiness, Timbuktu is an understated film with subtle moments of beauty matched against moments of quiet desperation. It's a movie with deep compassion for the lives of those it examines. It's sometimes bleak, but never despairing.
Is it one of the 25 best films of the century? Who knows for sure? All I can say is I wouldn't really argue against anyone counting it as such.
Al Jazeera link to a video interview with Sissako on his film and the events in Mali that inspired them.
New Yorker review of the film.
Ah, I almost forgot. A word of warning about the film, it does contain a scene of a cow being killed. It isn't especially gory or anything, but it does appear to be genuine, not faked.
I saw this movie referenced in the list of the best 25, and had to find it. Glad I did. I have known a Muslim family for a long time and I can see them in a similar way dealing with the contrasts of the world(s) we live in. Timbuktu is an expression of the clash between those worlds - eg the mobile phones, the motor bikes, shariah law and what is of god.
I don't think they'd appreciate the message it has, though. I just loved the football match, but then, I got it.
It really was about love, in the end.