Synopsis

In a time of global struggle, Sufi Islamic mysticism offers a path of peace.

Senegalese Sufi saint and mystic, Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Mbacké came of age in Senegal in the shadow of the West African slave trade, Gorée Island off the coast of Dakar, Senegal being the ‘door of no return’. He witnessed political and social strife of warring factions, French colonization and division of much of Africa during his formative years.

Rejecting violence, he taught another way, a ‘jihad of the pen’ offering a path of liberation through self mastery, knowledge, mystical poetry and worship through service (khidma).

Exiled by the French into the wilderness of the jungles of equatorial Gabon and later Mauritania, during French colonial rule, the Cheikh still lived on despite all efforts to extinguish him and his mission; his legacy and way continued thriving long after the colonial system fell.

BAMBA FEPP explores the legacy of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba and his followers, the Muridiyya-a group spread over the world- sparking a social revolution without lifting a weapon. 

From eco villages in the heart of Senegal to the inner city struggles in Philadelphia, Bamba’s followers aspire to their guide’s example of enlightenment as the true revolution.

Technical Details

Genre: Documentary Short
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Language: English

Director: Maryam Tricia Murajda
DP: Pavló Fedorov
Score: Dylann Taylor
Edit: Damián Tetelbaum, Olena Senator