_Timbuktu_'s classification as a French film on TMDb reflects a system of categorization based on funding, which isn’t entirely accurate. While the movie has financial connections to France, it was filmed in Mauritania, directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, who is from Mauritania, and even presented by that country for consideration at the Oscars. To label it as French disregards its cultural origins—a subtle form of col…

I’m not particularly religious myself, which somehow makes the impact even stronger when a group of Jihadists arrive and begin enforcing Sharia law in this setting. I don’t want to get into politics here, but what unfolds over the next ninety minutes or so contains some of the most shocking and upsetting scenes I've encountered in a film based on real events. It’s presented effectively as a docu-drama and follows dif…