Mariama Hima : Trailblazer and pioneer of cinema of Niger

Mariama Hima : Trailblazer and pioneer of cinema of Niger

"Cinema has given us the possibility of putting ourselves in the picture, seeing ourselves in these images."1

Mariama Hima, cultural worker par excellence: cineaste, anthropologist, ethno-linguist,  has held positions as museum conservationist at the National Museum of Niger, National Director of Culture and Niger ambassador to France. She filmed her doctoral research under the direction of Jean Rouch and has long been interested in environmental issues and recycling, recurrent topics of her films: Baabu Banza (Nothing is thrown away), 1984; Falaw (Aluminum), 1985; Toukou (Barrel), 1986; Katako (Boards), 1987; Hadiza and Kalia, 1994. She has also written a book of proverbs, Sagesse africaine, 1998.

Summarizing her filmed research, Baabu Banza (Nothing is thrown away) she states: “Through a series of films, I attempt to address a subject that affects many Third World countries, particularly those of the Sahel. The phenomenon of recycling makes us witness to the birth of an ingenuity generated by necessities of all types. With the overabundant surplus from the West at its disposal the creative genius of these recycle scavengers, is brought forth. So I did not hesitate to plunge my camera into the garbage bins of the city of Niamey, passing through the storied market of Bukoki where everything is bought, sold, recovered, and transformed. I saw a tire turn into a sandal; a tire which, in industrialized countries, is rescued, recycled or quite simply destroyed. In Bukoki it is given a thousand and one faces. Therefore it is not surprising to see a Coca Cola can transformed into a pot, or a metal barrel into a trunk.”

1. Symbolic Narratives/African Cinema: Audiences, Theory and the Moving Image. edit by June Givanni London: BFI, 2000.