ZARAFA

Directed by Rémi Bezançon

Belgium, France, 2012 , 78 min.

Family Film Matinee hosted by Baba Wagué Diakité of Mali

This charming animated feature film is based on the true story of the first giraffe ever seen in France. Offered as a gift from the Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt to the French king, Charles X, Zarafa traveled 2,000 miles down the Nile to Alexandria with her long neck and head protruding through a hole cut in a ship’s deck. After a voyage of 32 days, she arrived in Marseilles on October 31, 1826. She then walked 550 miles to Paris to the astonishment and delight of thousands of onlookers. To Zarafa’s adventure, the film adds the story of 10-year-old Maki, who escapes from slave traders and in turn wants to rescue Zarafa as well.

In French with English subtitles.

Sponsored by Willamette University