The film «Sia le rêve du python» is a cinematic adaptation of the legend of Wagadu (a 7th century myth of the Soninke people), inspired by the play «La légende du Wagadu vue par Sia Yatabéré» (The legend of Wagadu as seen by Sia Yatabéré) by the Mauritanian playwright Moussa Diagana.
The film is a political and contemporary approach to the Myth, a reflexion on the use of mysticism by people in power.
It was filmed between August and September 1999 in Burkina Faso. The palace exteriors were shot in the Ouagadougou region (Kokologho) and the rest was shot in Bobo-Dioulasso, specifically in "Dioulassoba", the old part of the town, and its environs.
The project was received as a prime exemple of artistic integration in West Africa. Indeed the film was inspired by the work of a Mauritanian playwright who contributed largely to the development to the cinematic adaptation.
The casting is essentially from Mali, with renowned actors from Burkina Faso, the director and screenwriter, Dani Kouyaté, is himself from Burkina.