Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon
Lune de Récolte (قمر الحصاد)
Directed by	Paul Soumanou Basa
Starring	Ousmane Toure, Sokhna Bousso, Anouk Fèvre
Music by	Jean Paul Rochenbeou and Francis Diop
Production company	Rivière Verte Productions
Distributed by	Konart
Release date	12th June 2023
Running time	158 minutes
Country	Kolda
Languages	French (Dubbed into Arabic, English, and Kango)
Budget	3.8 million
Box office	47.9 million

Harvest Moon is a Kolda film released in 2023. The film is an original sci-fi screenplay written and directed by Paul Soumanou Basa. Harvest Moon features Ousmane Toure, Sokhna Bousso, and Anouk Fèvre as its starring actors. The film was produced by Rivière Verte Productions and distributed by Konart. Harvest Moon is the most commercially successful privately funded Koldan film, grossing 47.9 million dollars. Hero of the People (2002) is the most successful film in Koldan, grossing over 70 million across its release.

Plot

Harvest Moon begins in a small village, the people are aliens who have over time evolved from humans, three small bumps on their foreheads distinguish them but besides that are almost identical to humans. The people known as the Yanara have a unique ability to control nature through an individual known as The Scribe. Throughout the film’s first 25 minutes the language spoken is entirely alien to us with no subtitles guiding the way, the choice by Basa creating a true sense of the unknown in the viewer.

A human mining crew from the DeSales Company soon visits Yanara. The DeSales Company led by Madame Victorine Charbonneau (Fèvre) wants to exploit the planet for generating fuel, requiring the construction of a mine and the removal of the Yanara. In revenge, The Scribe (Bousso) manifests a series of disasters against the mining company. Jermain Barro who leads the mining company believes The Scribe is using a dangerous piece of technology that turns drawings into reality via the ecosystem itself. After Barro captures The Scribe, he interrogates him and demands he give the technology to him. After the Scribe refuses, Charbonneau demands Barro and the miners force the locals into slavery by destroying the technology, destroying the Yanara’s faith.

The final act consists of a brutal battle between DeSales with futuristic weapons and the Yanara with simple tools and arrows. Eventually, The Scribe is captured along with his technology and brought before Charbonneau. The Scribe tells her the technology can’t be used by anyone, and it has no meaning outside of their home planet. In the final scene, as the artficact is on display in a museum of various alien artifacts, The Scribe remotely detonates the device killing many of the corporate before escaping his cell. In the final shot, he intentionally launches himself into space, to prevent it from ever being used again.

Production

Harvest Moon began production in 2021 with Paul Soumanou Basa being inspired by various sci-fi films as well as the Moudjerria Conflict. Ousmane Toure and Sokhna Bousso were the first actors confirmed, with Bousso coming out of a long hiatus away from the film. In 2022, well-known French language actor Anouk Fèvre starred as the primary antagonist. Filming occurred in Rivière Verte Studios in Lennes as well as several locations across Moudjerria, with the scenes at the Intergalactic Exhibition being shot at The Palais Bleu in Saint-Paul.

Reception

Harvest Moon was released on June 7th, 2023 across theaters in Kolda, with the premiere being held in Lennes the day before. The film was controversial because of the film's references to the Moudjerria Conflict and the actions of mining corporations in the region. Green Star Mining sued Konart, the distributor of the film on the grounds of misrepresentation. Meanwhile, critics praised the set design and scientific accuracy as well as Sokhna Bousso's portrayal of The Scribe. Harvest Moon was nominated for the 2023 IDU Film Festival for Best Film and Best Supporting Actor, although the film did not win in either category. Harvest Moon was also released internationally on June 28th, 2023, with specialty screenings being hosted by Konart in New Liverpool and San Sabla, centers of the Koldan diaspora. On August 8th, the case against the film's release brought by Green Star Mining was ruled in favor of Konart at the Guédiawaye-Lennes Provincial Court, in a major decision for creative freedom and free speech.