James Copnall
BBC, Ouagadougou

The biannual Pan African film and Television festival, Fespaco, has got underway in Burkina Faso.

However a sparkling opening ceremony was marred by crowd disturbances which resulted in two deaths.

Crowds packed Ouaga's stadium

Ten others were injured as a heaving crowd gathered to celebrate the opening of the 19th edition of Fespaco.

The incident happened in the stands of Burkina Faso’s national football stadium, where the official opening ceremony was held on Saturday.

The festival organisers and the speaker of Burkina Faso’s national assembly offered their condolences to the families of the victims.

The deaths cast a long shadow over an event that is usually seen as a rare example of positive news coming out of Africa.


In this year’s festival 20 films will compete for the top prize, known as the Etalon de Yennenga.

Salif Keita opened the show

The jury includes the Hollywood actor Danny Glover. Saturday’s opening ceremony featured a performance by Malian singing legend Salif Keita.

Over the next week Burkinabes and visitors from all over the world will be able to watch the best in new African feature films and documentaries.

Films from Europe and the Americas will also be shown, and there is a special section for African tv series.

FESPACO is vitally important for African cinema, which receives little exposure in the rest of the world.

The festival runs from the 26th of February to the 5th of March, 2005.