The public stoning of an unmarried couple in Mali was the inspiration behind director Abderrahmane Sissako's film Timbuktu.
The film will screen at the Whanganui Film Society on August 8.
In the dunes outside Timbuktu, a cattle farmer called Kidane, played with sad nobility by Ibrahim Ahmed, has built a life with his wife, Satima, their 12-year-old daughter, and a young shepherd boy. Kidane plucks a guitar at night, and their tent feels like a sacred haven under the stars. However, all is not as it seems.
Despite the grim events behind the film, reviewer Tim Robey from The Telegraph said Timbuktu is in no way the "remorselessly grim film its subject matter might lead you to expect".
"It's full of life, irony, poetry and bitter unfairness. It demands respect, but it also earns it.