Wara, the Political Series of TV5 Monde Afrique

Wara in Malinke (language spoken in West Africa) means “fawns”. From the title the tone is set. Charli Beléteau (to whom we owe the French series Plus belle la vie) creator of the series, takes us into a ferocious universe, that of politic and all the stratagems that deal with it. In a small student town in Senegal, Mountari Wara played by the Burkinabé Issaka Sawadogo, a former lawyer converted into a university law professor, is pushed by an impetuous student – Aicha Diallo played by the Ivorian France Nancy Goulian – to go into politic to fight against clientelism and corruption. Several other themes are also developed in this series of 8 episodes of 40 minutes each: women’s rights, student movements, the environment…

Wara is inspired by another series broadcast on TV5 Monde Afrique between 2012 and 2013: Bruits de tambours, directed by Nigerien Magagi Issoufou Sani, author and Film-maker Charli Beléteau, showrunner of this new creation broadcast on TV5Monde Plus (VOD platform of the TV5Monde channel) takes up the same themes as the 2012 series while providing a thematic, technical and artistic update.

Teaser for the series Bruits de Tambours broadcast on TV5 Monde Afrique between 2012 and 2013.

Wara has moreover benefited from more financial means for its production by receiving funds from the French Development Agency, TV5 Monde Afrique, the CNC (National Centre for Cinema and Moving Images), Francophony and many other funding structures. With a Budget of around 150,000 euros per episode, the Film-makers of Wara, Toumani Sangaré and Oumar Diack, opted for a pan-African cast. We thus find well-known actors such as Issaka Sawadogo already present in the series Guyane, France Nancy Goulian seen in the series Cacao, or the Senegalese actor Souleymane Seye Ndiaye known for his role in the series Golden.

But the project of the series took about 7 years to be edited and finally realized. Because the series that was initially to be shot in Mali had to be relocated several times due to the political instability in that country and in Burkina Faso. It is finally in Senegal that the series could be shot. “We gradually moved the project around according to the countries where it was possible to film. In the meantime I had created a series in Senegal called C’est la vie, so I saw that we could industrialise a show there. I found all the resources I needed there, a formidable youthfulness in the profession, actors in the making… So there was the possibility of developing a “premium” series in this country” reveals Charli Beléteau in an interview for the Cnc.

No information is yet available about the possibility of a season 2, but you can discover season 1 for free here: Wara.

Rostand Wandja