The baan is really one of the most important identity markers among the Sambla of Burkina Faso. It is a xylophone with gourd resonators, characteristically played by three musicians at the same time. It is omnipresent in the daily soundscape of Sambla villages, playing at rituals, parties, celebrations, and even during farming. One of its most remarkable characteristic is the ability to speak, or in other words to communicate messages through melodies.

The documentary will follow the construction of the instrument and its music in the course of a year. Leaving as much space as possible to the sounds and music of the village of Karankasso Sambla, the musicians will explain the uses and functions of the instrument. They will also tell the stories of their family group, which doesn’t marry with the rest of the villagers, who consider them inferior yet depend on them for the music-making activity.