(Re)Discover Alice Diop

RE(DISCOVER) ALICE DIOP

Alice Diop, born in France to Senegalese parents, frames her cinematic stories—short and feature documentary, and more recently fiction, at the intersection of the social, political and the personal. Her films explore the diverse themes of identity, belonging, gendered relationships, the complexities of immigration, especially its psychological manifestations.

In one of her earlier films Les Sénégalaises et la Sénégauloise (Senegalese women and the Senegaulois woman, 2007) in reference to France as the country of the Gauls, Alice Diop reflects on her experience as a French woman of Senegalese descent among her women relatives during her first visit ever to Senegal.

Synopsis: The filmmaker Alice Diop comes to Dakar for the first time, accompanying the remains of her father, an immigrant worker in France, who wanted to be buried in his native land. Foreign to the country, she discovers the courtyard in which her mother grew up and where the aunts, cousins and nieces, who she does not know, come to meet. These women talk about their everyday lives, money, love schemes, marriage, polygamy and men. Alice realizes what her life could have been.

Image: africine.org

The African Women in Cinema Blog has followed her journey with articles expressing her ideas, films, and awards:

Sabzian: "State of Cinema" Alice Diop at Bozar with "Sambizanga" by Sarah Maldoror https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2023/12/sabzian-state-of-cinema-alice-diop-at.html

Carte Blanche Alice Diop: Reformuler - 10 - 12.11.2023 - Festival d’Automne 2023 https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2023/11/carte-blanche-alice-diop-reformuler-10.html

Alice Diop receives the prestigious Jean Vigo 2022 Award for "Saint Omer"

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2022/10/alice-diop-receives-prestigious-jean-vigo-award.html

Alice Diop reflects on the literature of Annie Ernaux as a transformative feature of her experience as a woman 

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2022/10/alice-diop-literature-of-annie-ernaux.html

Reflections from Audre Lorde

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2022/09/alice-diop-we-will-no-longer-be-silent.html

Saint-Omer

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2022/07/alice-diop-saint-omer-venezia-biennale.html

Alice Diop: We | Nous  - Winner of Best Film in Encounters at the Berlinale 2021

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2021/03/berlinale-2021-alice-diop-we-nous.html

Alice Diop: Autour de "Nous" Centre Pompidou (Paris) - 11 - 14 fév. 2021

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2022/02/alice-diop-autour-de-nous-centre.html

Addressing political issues through sensitivity and empathy

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2016/05/alice-diop-addressing-political-issues.html

When Alice Diop takes us "towards masculine tenderness"

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2016/03/when-alice-diop-takes-us-towards.html

Alice Diop’s "Towards Tenderness" and "La Permanence" (On Call) receive awards in Paris | Vers la Tendresse et La Permanence d'Alice Diop primés à Paris

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2016/04/djia-mambu-alices-diops-towards.html

La Mort de Danton (The Death of Danton)

http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.fr/2011/12/alice-diop-it-is-up-to-us-to-work-on.html