Timbuktu

Translated from swedish: Sharp turns between anxiety and laughter
- Hynek Pallas

Swedish: svd.se »

Translated from swedish: Sissako treats them with human dignity, even when they commit acts that are humanly undignified. "Timbuktu" therefore completely lacks the caricatures and stereotypes that usually populate Western film productions that want to say something about jihadism.

Swedish: dn.se »

Translated from swedish: We witness a couple in love, but unmarried, being stoned to death. But otherwise, the strength of Abderrahmane Sissako's film lies in its understated portrayal of the madness. In the contrasts, in how an ordinary couple and some other people who just want to live in peace are struck by the cruelest circumstances due to unfortunate events.
- Jan-Olov Andersson

Swedish: aftonbladet.se »

Translated from swedish: This is what it really feels like to live under terror, I think. It's not the action-packed attacks and bombings of Hollywood movies, but rather this hopeless paralyzing state that just persists in a slowly suffocating everyday life.
- Maria Brander

Swedish: expressen.se »

Translated from swedish: "Timbuktu" bears no resemblance to Hollywood's violent portrayals of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, despite Sissako's drama being equally brutal, equally outrageous. Sissako's language is that of poetry, gallows humor, irony, and music. He sees the dignity in those who resist and blends darkness with light. He keeps himself in the background and simply hands the story over to us to see for ourselves.
- Monika Tunbäck-Hanson

Swedish: gp.se »

Translated from swedish: Intelligent film with hopeful emotions
- Ingrid Stigsdotter

Swedish: sydsvenskan.se »

Translated from swedish: There's a lot that's incomprehensible, yet real, in the film. The whole thing becomes a very gripping work that reveals more about oppression than any news report ever could. "Timbuktu" has won numerous prestigious awards and on Sunday it has a chance at an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.
- Björn G Stenberg

Swedish: unt.se »

Translated from swedish: It's obviously extra tough to watch "Timbuktu" given the film's topical relevance, but at the same time Sissako balances his heavy narrative with charming characters, humor and warmth.
- Eric Diedrichs

Swedish: filmtopp.se »

Translated from swedish: The Western world lurks in the shadows of "Timbuktu", and since the film never loses sight of the perpetrators' human dimension, we get a thought-provoking examination of their motives, and of our own society's role in this cultural and humanitarian tragedy.
- Axel Andersson

Swedish: ergo.nu »

Translated from swedish: I would like to challenge every single person who doesn't understand why it's a human duty to accept refugees to watch this film. Having your life torn apart and being forced to flee for your life because it's no longer allowed to be human – that could happen to anyone.
- Rosemari Södergren

Swedish: kulturbloggen.com »

Translated from swedish: Definitely, "Timbuktu" is skillfully made, the story is carefully balanced, the images are simple but very specific, the acting often sublime, and the way the characters speak to each other is very believable and alive. The creeping unease lies between the lines in everything that is said, and the oppression is portrayed with clear horror.
- Fredrik Fyhr

Swedish: fredrikfyhr.se »

Translated from swedish: A grinding sense of resignation prevents me from being fully moved by the film.
- Björn Jansson

Swedish: sverigesradio.se »