Yeelen (Bambara for "brightness"/"light") is a 1987 Malian film directed by Souleymane Cissé, though the era is undefined, it is presumably set in the 13th century in which empire in West Africa, from 1230 to 1670?
Mali Empire The Mali Empire (Manding: "Nyeni" or "Niani"; also historically referred to as the Manden Kurufaba, sometimes shortened to Manden) was an empire in West Africa from 1230 to 1670. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Musa Keita. The Manding languages were spoken in the empire. It was the largest empire in West Africa and profoundly influenced the culture of West Africa through the spread of its language, laws and customs. Much of the recorded information about the Mali Empire comes from 14th century North African Arab historian Ibn Khaldun, 14th century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta and 16th century Moroccan traveller Leo Africanus. The other major source of information is Mandinka oral tradition, through storytellers known as griots.
Tarikh al-fattash The Tarikh al-fattash is a West African chronicle written in Arabic in the second half of the 17th century. It provides an account of the Songhay Empire from the reign of Sonni Ali (ruled 1464-1492) up to 1599 with a few references to events in the following century. The chronicle also mentions the earlier Mali Empire. The French scholars Octave Houdas and Maurice Delafosse published a critical edition in 1913. It has been argued that this edition conflates the text from an early incomplete manuscript with that of a re-written forgery produced early in the 19th century. The "Tarikh" was originally believed to have been written by Mahmud Kati but this has been questioned and Ibn al-Mukhtar, a grandson of Mahmud Kati, is now believed to have been the author.