Beyond Mali »

"I will tell you a story of two oceans. One lies towards the lands of Nubia, the other where the sun falls from the sky: the known and the unknown. Within their waters raged the blood of two brothers."
-Djeliba Mamadou Kouyaté

The year is 1307. The Great Mansa of Mali has unexpectedly died, and the vast empire wavers with instability. It is Abubakari II who inherits the rule of Mali from his beloved father. As his Mandingo warriors storm the citadel of Djenné, the last obstacle in the Keita clan's complete rule of the region, Abubakari reveals his childhood ambition of exploring the 'Great Sea of Darkness" to the west. Viewed as madness by some, his dream severs the unity of the empire and sends the young ruler clashing with his least expected adversary...his brother.

Based on a true story.