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Digitally Restored: KADDU BEYKAT (News from My Village, Senegal 1975) premieres at the Locarno Film Festival

Safi Faye’s KADDU BEYKAT is not only considered a milestone in African film history; it is a work of global historical and artistic significance. Last year, it won the third edition of the Locarno Heritage Restoration Contest and was digitally restored by Cinegrell. The 79th Locarno Film Festival will present the premiere of the restored version on August 8 at 6:30 p.m.

The Arsenal would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to Locarno Heritage Partner and Cinegrell for this award.

The Locarno Film Festival has published a wonderful essay by Srikanth Srinivasan about the film on its website: “It Takes a Village: On the Restored Kaddu Beykat by Senegalese Pioneer Safi Faye.”

Since 2015, at Safi Faye’s request, the Arsenal has represented her entire body of work. Following the screenings of the films KADDU BEYKAT and Fad’jal (Come and work, Senegal 1979) at the Berlinale Forum (in 1976 and 1979, respectively). Faye returned to Berlin at the invitation of Freie Universität, where she subsequently spent several months as a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Residence Program. During this time, she was a frequent guest at the Arsenal, with which she maintained a friendly relationship.

The digital restoration of KADDU BEYKAT marks the beginning of a new effort by Arsenal to bring her body of work to light. A retrospective is planned for December 2026 at the Arsenal Kino, which will provide an overview of her work and will subsequently be presented in several countries and continents.

Funded by:

  • Logo Minister of State for Culture and the Media