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Fespaco 2001
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Life in Ouaga
BBC'S Christine K visits the land of the people of integrity
The words Burkina and Faso come from the Mossi and Djola languages, and taken together they translate into the "Land of the people of integrity". And its citizens call themselves Burkinabe - persons of integrity. In a world full of adversity and challenges it must be tough to live up to that definition. Some "Burkinabe" spoke to Christine on how relevant the term was today:
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Relaxing in Ouaga
Burkina Faso ranks fairly low on the world economic development index. It is a dry and dusty country bordering the Saharan desert with few natural resources. So, people take courage by looking back at their past and compensate by consuming fermented liquids in one of Ouaga's cafe-bars. Christine visited one such "Dolodrome".
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The Mossi Empire
Tales of the Mossi Empire still inspire the Burkinabe. The Mossi King's courtiers play an important part in the social life of Burkina Faso. One quarter of Ouagadougou - Larle - houses the court of a minister of the Mossi King. Christine was there to listen to the Mossi's traditional stories.
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Driving in Ouaga
The drivers of Ouagadougou, like most other places, are impatient and almost always in a hurry. During one of her trips across the Burkina Faso capital, Christine K met a very special person indeed - the only woman taxi driver in the country. And she told her that she generally worked 24-hours on the trot.
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  Monument in Ouaga
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What is Fespaco?

FESPACO, the Pan-African film and television festival, is the biggest, regular cultural event on the continent with thousands expected to attend this year. The festival is a source of huge pride to the people of Ougadougou.

FESPACO was started in 1969, and is held every two years. This year hundreds of films, and television and video productions will be featured. But the festival is not just a showcase for new films; it provides an opportunity for hundreds of directors, producers, distributors and actors to meet up, do deals in private, and debate in public.

For the first time, this website complements a week of live radio coverage; Ofeibea Quist-Arcton will be presenting five live editions of Artbeat. She'll be working with producers Catherine Fellows, Charles Bambara and Stephane Mayoux, and correspondent Pierre Kazoni. Making the connections work and ensuring good sound quality is technician, Derrick Evans.

NEW TECHNOLOGY

This year's theme is technology. With the advent of cheaper, better quality video equipment, African film-makers should be able to produce more films for less money. But can they get effective distribution of their films? Listeners and website users are invited to take part in the action by emailing their comments to this website.

You can hear Artbeat live from the Hotel Independence in Ougadougou every day for five days at 1630 GMT (1630 local time), starting on Monday 26th February.


Official Fespaco site