And what a film editor she is! Interview with Nadia Ben Rachid, by Djia Mambu | Une sacrée monteuse ! Entretien avec Nadia Ben Rachid, par Djia Mambu

And what a film editor she is! Interview with Nadia Ben Rachid, by Djia Mambu |Une sacrée monteuse ! Entretien avec Nadia Ben Rachid, par Djia Mambu 

Translated from French by Beti Ellerson, a collaboration with Africine.org. Photos: Africine.org

En français : http://www.africine.org/?menu=art&no=12506

Nadia Ben Rachid has collaborated on the films of internationally renowned directors, such as Sissako, Benguigui, Bouchareb, Allouache, El Fani or Polanski. Nadia Ben Rachid considers herself to be the first spectator of the film.

Nadia Ben Rachid a collaboré sur les œuvres de réalisateurs de renommée internationale tels que Sissako, Benguigui, Bouchareb, Allouache, El Fani ou encore Polanski. Nadia Ben Rachid se considère comme étant la première spectatrice du film.

This meeting with the esteemed editor took place at the International Francophone Film Festival in Namur, where Timbuktu and Le Challat de Tunis, won the highest honours.

Rencontre avec une sacrée monteuse au Festival International du Film Francophone à Namur où Timbuktu et Le Challat de Tunis, ont décroché les consécrations suprêmes. (La suite à africine.org)

[English]

Djia Mambu: It is an extraordinary year for Timbuktu and Le Challat de Tunis (Challot of Tunis), two films that you have worked on.

Nadia Ben Rachid: Le Challat de Tunis, I was contacted by Kaouther [Ben Henia] for her documentary Les imams vont à l'école (Imams go to school). But unfortunately I did not edit it since I was not available... She wanted us to work together, to work with someone experienced and who understands the Tunisian language. For Timbuktu, I was very happy that Abderrahmane [Sissoko] called on me again, as I have edited all of his films since 1996. For this film, he changed his entire team except me! It has been a long-time collaboration and he has been very loyal to me, I am very grateful for the confidence he has in me.

DM: How would you describe the role of the editor today?

NBR: Today the editor’s role varies a lot, depending on whether it is a documentary or fiction. I am dealing with a film project that belongs to a director; I must shape it into a harmonious, fluid idea. My role is to condense this boundless material into a specified timespan. From this I must structure a narrative and rhythm, according to the director’s vision and intentions; and render this thing (the film) accessible. My approach must be effective; I must pay attention to what is being said, to what is important from what is boring.

There are treasures in the footage that must be managed carefully as this is what captures the viewer's attention. It must be presented in small doses. A film is like promising the viewer something based on a timeframe and a story. The viewer is generous but one should not go too far. My role is there, when there is discussion, bringing it to its potential. I consider myself the first spectator of the film.

D.M.: What motivated you to become an editor?

NBR: I became an editor after ten years working as assistant editor on 35mm (on cellulloid and not on a computer), that is to say, I was doing exactly by hand what the computer does today: cutting and taping, white gloves, etc. The first film was Pirates by Roman Polanski in 1985, during the time when Tarak Ben Ammar directed superb productions in Tunisia. I was hired as a "local" intern! As I was very passionate and very serious, they took me to Paris to finish the film. So I followed Roman Polanski on three films, and then Claude Berri, etc.

DM: What characteristic defines the role of editor?

NBR: I am probably as bored as anyone else in life, even more; I think that this is a quality for an editor. There are so many things to do during editing! I have to be very organised; it is the only way to keep a clear head. Hence, I can be totally involved and concentrated.

DM: What have been your most wonderful experiences as an editor?

NBR: Without any doubt, the films of Abderrahmane Sissako are my best experiences. With him I am working in the profession doing what I dreamed of. With him I edited Sabriya, Life on Earth, Heremakono: Waiting for Happiness, Bamako and Timbuktu. He is my favourite director! He knows perfectly his craft. Music is present, it is a great pleasure to have his images and his universe, he is unique.

DM: what kind of film would you like to work on in the near future?

NBR: My next editing job will be a comedy, a genre that I have not really encountered. I would love for it to be a success and hear the whole theatre filled with laughter.

Interview by Djia Mambu, in Namur, October 2014

Interview with actress Prudence Maïdou by Djia Mambu | Entretien de Djia Mambu avec Prudence Maïdou, actrice

Interview with actress Prudence Maïdou by Djia Mambu | Entretien de Djia Mambu avec Prudence Maïdou, actrice 

Translated from French by Beti Ellerson, a collaboration with Africine.org. Photo: Vincent Bloch. Africine.org

En français : http://www.africine.org/?menu=art&no=12721 

Prudence Maïdou, French actress, choreographer, and dancer of Central African Republic origin, interprets Salla, the protagonist of Dakar Trottoirs by Hubert Laba Ndao (Senegal). Her first role in a feature fiction earned her the Best Actress Award at the African Film Festival of Khouribga (Morocco) in June 2014. Prudence Maïdou plays the role of Sweet Thing in the series Les veuves Noires, “The Black Widows”, developed and produced by Ivorian Alex Ogou, alongside BAMS (Saffronia), Mata Gabin (Peaches), Tella Kpomahou (Aunt Sara), Jean-Michel MARTIAL (Pastor Jonah). She was on set for the shooting of the pilot of the TV series (Blue Palace) in Marrakech, Morocco in the summer of 2014, under the direction of Kamal Kamal, with Isaline Ponroy, Bernard Farcy, Eriq Ebouaney, Bruno Henry, Paco Perez.

Interview with one of the rising stars of cinema.

Djia Mambu: After Dialemi by Nadine Otsobogo (Bronze Stallion, 2013 FESPACO, Best Short Film at the African AMAA 2013) here you are starring in a Senegalese thriller. This confirms that cinema has become definitively part of your artistic career.

Prudence Maïdou: As an actress in France, it is not easy to find roles on that level. There are very few for black people, much less for black women. So when I read the script, I just wanted to tell myself that it is I who will play this role. I even had the nerve to call the casting director and say, "No matter who you call in France, no one can play this role better than me!" (Laughter). They took me at my word, they had me come for a tryout and hurled at me: "We will go with you!". Yes, it was a bit risky, my portfolio was not very extensive, just a few television appearances, dance performances, etc.

Djia Mambu: How does one get involved in such a project that is shot entirely in a foreign country and in a

foreign language?

Prudence Maïdou: I came with a group that had been already working together for two years; because at the beginning, the crew had recruited young actors for training. I had joined the project, following a reading in Paris, during a trip by the producer Moctar Ndiouga Bâ,

Fortunately, I know Senegal, it is my adopted country that I am very fond of. Arriving there, I said to Charles Correa, who plays Siirou, although I do not understand, it would be nice to talk to me in Wolof. I asked him to take me around Dakar to better immerse myself, so we spent a lot of time together.

Djia Mambu: Salla is your first major film role, how did you get into the character?

Prudence Maïdou: I had no choice but to totally immerse myself into the character. But there is a part of me that I recognized in Salla. I was born in Africa [Central African Republic], I come from a humble background. I had the experience of seeing young people in the street into drugs and alcohol. I had these images ingrained in my mind. It helped me a great deal in working on my character.

Djia Mambu: She is a strong and complex character, a young black woman who takes the lead in her relationship and her gang. It is she who assumes the central role, rather unusual, no?

Prudence Maïdou: Salla constantly seeks her freedom. No matter what, she knows she will find a way out. As a child she was given a gold ring that she keeps around her neck, that is visible throughout the film. It is her hope, she knows that she will become someone. Even though she hangs out in the street, one sees that she will not end up there. Though at the moment she is in her squat with her gang, it is because she has no choice.

She grew up with Siirou who introduces her to this grandmother who raises most of these street youth. For Siirou it is clear that Salla will become his wife. But she dreams of another life, living in a big house, owning a Mercedes, with a chauffeur. And she arrives at the moment when she can no longer continue with Siirou and wants to fly with her own wings. Which Siirou cannot understand...

Links:

Djia Mambu: Alice Diop’s "Towards Tenderness" (Vers la Tendresse) and "La Permanence" 

Djia Mambu : Meanwhile, They’re filming… | En attendant, Elles tournent…, report on the/compte rendu : Elles Tournent, 2016

Djia Mambu: A committed writer at the service of Africulture | Une plume engagée au service d’Africulture

Interview with/avec Nadia Ben Rachid, by/par Djia Mambu

Aya Cissoko : Danbé, head held high | la tête haute – film by/de Bourlem Guerdjou - analysis/analyse

"Danbe, head held high" by Bourlem Guerdjou. Dignity whatever the cost, an analysis by Olivier Barlet

Source: http://www.africultures.com/ 

Translation from French by Beti Ellerson for the African Women in Cinema Blog. (An African Women in Cinema Blog/Africultures collaboration)

Do not miss this telefilm on Arte, scheduled Friday, 23 January, 2015 (and rebroadcast on Sunday morning, 01 February). A touching portrait of the combat of the boxer Aya Cissoko.

Any film about boxing is testimony to the tough apprenticeship of overcoming, of the taming of fury, of the mastery of one's destiny. A film about boxing is also about courage. Danbé, which means "dignity" in Bambara, laudably documents the life of Aya Cissoko, a woman who holds her head high, and becomes a world champion in women's boxing; adapted from her biography co-authored with Marie Desplechin. But "Danbé, head held high" is also a story of mourning: Aya was only eight years old in November 1986 when the fire from an arson attack on a building crammed with immigrant families in Ménilmontant, engulfed her father and sister. How will the family cope? "We have to stop crying about the dead in order to let them rest in peace," but fate continues to weigh on the family: "Outside it is freezing, inside it is defeating," wrote Aya Cissoko and Marie Desplechin in their book Danbé. (1) Hence, the story of Aya is a confrontation with her mother, Massiré; a dignified woman who, in the face of injustice demands compensation during a never-ending trial. A resolute woman who resists returning to Mali; a mindful woman determined that her daughter gets an education so she is not destined to work as a cleaning woman, a battered woman constantly seeking an equilibrium, albeit fragile. "If there is a place where I hope to win, it's in the ring": Aya’s boxing workouts are an outlet for her fury and a way to prevail, to the despair of this brave mother who has difficulty understanding its relevance.

"Danbe, head held high" thus is a portrait of two women; loyal to their story, it brings together with striking finesse and without pity, a biographical and personal narrative, while respecting the literary approach of the book which, focuses more on the feeling than the events. Bourlem Guerdjou returns here to the minimalist effects of realism of his first feature film Living in Paradise that was celebrated in 1998. Those who gain from this sobriety are the characters who appear in their beauty, benefiting from the camera close on the body, complementing their movements, and the editing that sustains this rhythm. Each woman has her struggle in overcoming suffering. It unfolds during the three stages of Aya’s life, as the film revolves around the delicate search for calm in their relationship.

Awarded for best fiction at the last Festival at La Rochelle, "Danbé, head held high" shows that telefilms of quality are possible, that respect the language of the protagonists (Tatiana Rojo, who interpretes the mother Massiré, had to learn Bambara) and where the directing of the actors requires a long preparation after extensive casting. Assa Sylla and Annabelle Lengronne (Aya from adolescence to adulthood) had to learn to box, so that the matches are carefully executed.

"Boxing is considered a violent sport. But I find that life is violent. What it inflicts without warning is far more painful than what one risks inside the ropes of a boxing ring." May one also read in Danbé, how to keep one's head up high? Social conditions, issues as much woman-related as intercultural, make this story a contemporary one. Personalities of courage, as initiatory as they are alive in their contradictions, Aya and Masiré speak to all those who face adversity and seek to triumph over it.

1. Aya Cissoko and Marie Desplechin. Danbe, Paris: Calmann- Lévy, 2011 192 p.

Related link

Jessie Chisi talks about "Between Rings: The Esther Phiri Story"

Martin Luther King: Day of commemoration | journée de commemoration

Martin Luther King: Day of commemoration | journée de commemoration

Day in commemoration of the life and legacy of Martin Luther King in the United States |

Journée de commémoration de Martin Luther King aux États-Unis

Martin Luther King (The Drum Major Instinct):

"If you want to be important--wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful…You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.

Si vous voulez être quelqu'un d'important—très bien. Si vous voulez être reconnu—très bien. Si vous voulez être formidable—très bien… Tout ce qu'il vous faut, c'est un cœur empli de grâce. Une âme faite d'amour.

FESPACO 2015 Official Selection | Sélection officielle

FESPACO 2015 Official Selection | Sélection officielle

24e edition

Cinema africain : production et diffusion à l’ère du numérique

24th Edition

African Cinema: Production and Distribution in the Digital Era

FESPACO: http://www.fespaco-bf.net

COMPETITION

FEATURE | LONG METRAGE

Avant le printemps (“Before Spring”) by/d'Ahmed Attef (Egypte)

C'est eux les chiens | They are the Dogs by/d'Hicham Lasri (Morocco/Maroc)

Cellule 512 (“Cell 512”) by/de Missa Hebié (Burkina Faso)

Des étoiles | Under the Starry Sky by/de Dyana Gaye (Senegal)

Entre le marteau et l'enclume (“Between the Hammer and the Anvil”) by/d'Amog Lemra (RC)

Esclave et courtisane (“Slave and Courtesan”) by/de Christian Lara (Guadeloupe)

Lalla Fadhma N'Soumer by/de Belkacem Hadjadj (Algérie/Algeria)

Fièvres (“Fevers”) by/de Hicham Ayouch (Morocco/Maroc)

Four Corners (“Quatre coins”) by/de Ian Gabriel (South Africa)

Haïti Bride by/de Robert Yao Ramesar (Trinidad-Tobago)

J'ai 50 ans (“I am 50 years old”) by/de Djamel Azizi (Algérie/Algeria)

L'œil du cyclone (“Eye of the storm”) by/de Salif Traoré (Burkina Faso)

Morbayassa by/de Cheik Camara (Guinée)

O Espinho da Rosa by/de Filipe Henriques (Guinée Bissau)

Price of love (“Prix d'amour”) by/de Hailay Hermon (Ethiopia/Éthiopie)

Printemps tunisien (“Tunisian spring”) by/de Raja Amari (Tunisia/Tunisie)

Rapt à Bamako by/de Cheick Oumar Sissoko (Mali)

Render to Cesar by/de Desmonde Ovbiagele Onyekachi Ejim (Nigeria)

Run by/de Philippe Lacôte (Côte d'Ivoire)

Timbuktu by/d’Abderrahmane Sissako (Mauritania)

SHORT | COURT-MÉTRAGE

A cœur ouvert (“With an open heart”) by/d’Ayekoro Kossou (Bénin)

Aïssa's Story | "l'histoire d'Aïssa" by/d’Iquo Essien (Nigeria)

Ashley by/d’Ibrahim Ibra Kwizeka (Burundi)

Chambre noire (“Darkroom”) by/d’Oumar Niguizié Sinenta (Mali)

Cinq boîtes de lait (“Five boxes of milk”) by/de Siam Marley (Côte d'Ivoire)

Coming Home (“Le retour”) by/de Marinda Stein (Namibia)

Damaru by/d’Agbor Obed Agbor (Cameroon/Cameroun)

De l'eau et du sang  (“Of water and blood”) by/d’Abdelilah Eljaouhary (Mauritania)

Derniers recours (“Last ditch”) by/de Mahi Bena (Algeria/Algérie)

Jìn'naariyâ! | L'alliance | The Golden Ring by/de Rahmatou Keïta (Niger)

Kamelo by/de Jean-Claude Bourjolly (Haiti)

Kwaku Ananse by/d’Akosua Adoma Owusu (Ghana)

La Boucle (“The loop”) by/de Didier Cheneau (Réunion)

La dot (“The dowry”) by/de Tahirou Tasséré Ouédraogo (Burkina Faso)

Les avalés du Grand Bleu by/de Maxime Kossivi Tchincoun (Togo)

Madama Esther by/de Luck Razanajaona (Madagascar)

Malika et la sorcière (“Malika and the sorceress”) by/de Boureima Nabaloum (Burkina Faso)

Moane Mory by/de Pacôme Amédée Nkoulou Allogo (Gabon)

Muruna by/de Moly Kane (Senegal)

Soeur Oyo (“Sister Oyo”) by/de Monique Mbeka Phoba (RDC)

Twaaga by/de Cédric Ido (Burkina Faso)

Zakaria by/de Leyla Bouzid (Tunisia)

DOCUMENTARY | DOCUMENTAIRE

10949 femmes (“10949 women”) by/de Nassima Guessoum (Algeria/Algérie)

Ady Gasy by/de Nantenaina Lova (Madagascar)

Asni:  Courage, passion and glamor in Ethiopia by/de Samuel Rachel (Ethiopia/Éthiopie)

Beats of the Antonov by/de Hajooj Kuka (South Africa/Afrique du Sud)

Devoir de mémoire (“Duty of memory”) by/de Mamadou Cissé (Mali)

Egypt's Modern Pharaohs | Les pharaons moderns de l'Égypte by/de Jihan El-Tahri (Egypte)

Esklavaj Reparasyon by/de Jean-Luc Sylvain et Michel Miheaye (Togo)

Intore, entre la danse et l'art de la guerre (“Intore, between dance and the art of war”) by/de Aristide Muco et Aristide Katihabwa (Burundi)

Koukan Kourcia, les médiatrices (“Koukan Kourcia, the women mediators”) by/de Sani Magori (Niger)

La sirène de Faso Fani | The Siren of Faso Fani by/de Michel K. Zongo (Burkina Faso)

La souffrance est une école de sagesse | Suffering is a School of Wisdom by/d’Ariane Astrid Atodji (Cameroun/Cameroon)

Le chant des tortues | The Turtle’s Song by/de Jawad Rhalib (Maroc/Morocco)

Mantuila, un fou de la guitare (“Mantuila, passionate about the guitar”) by/de Michée Sunzu Tshimanga (RDC)

Miners Shot Down (“Mineurs abattus) by/de Desai Rehad (South Africa/Afrique du Sud)

Momsarew by/d’Alassane Diagne (Senegal)

Paths To Freedom (“Les Chemins de la Liberté”) by/de Richard Pakleppa (Namibia)

Sur les chemins de la Rumba (“On the roads to the Rumba”) by/de David-Pierre Fila (Cameroun/Cameroon)

Sur un air de révolte ("To the tune of rebellion") by/de Franck Salin (Guadeloupe)

Tango Negro, les racines africaines du tango | Tango Negro, the African Roots of Tango by/de Dom Pedro (Angola)

Victorieux ou morts mais jamais prisonniers | Victorious or Dead, but never Prisoner by/de Mario L. Delatour (Haiti)

TV SERIES

Eh les hommes ! Eh les femmes !  (“Hey men! Hey women!”) by/de Apolline Woye Traore (Burkina Faso)

Chroniques africaines (“African diaries”) by/de Marie-Christine Amon (Côte d'Ivoire)

Coeurs errants (“Wandering hearts”) by/de Sorel Agbodemakou (Bénin)

Courses pour la vie by/de Francis Zossou et Tiburce Bocovo (Bénin)

Dougouba Sigui by/de Boubacar Sidibe (Mali)

Du jour au lendemain (“Overnight”) by/d’Adama Roamba (Burkina Faso)

La belle-mère (“The Mother-in-law”) by/d’Ebenezer Kepombia (Cameroon/Cameroun)

Lex Nostra by/de Gérard Désiré Nguele Amougou (Cameroon/Cameroun)

Tôt ou tard (“Sooner or later”) by/de S. Bernard Yameogo (Burkina Faso)

FILM SCHOOLS | ECOLES DE CINÉMA

Bebi Solo (ESEC, Togo)

La Merveilleuse et mystérieuse croix d'agadez (“The magnificent and mysterious Agadez Cross”) by/d’Amadou Dénis Roufay (IFTIC, Niger)

Délestage électrique by/de Karim Koné (Brico Films Formation, Mali)

Dinan by/de Senami Kpetehogbe (Isma, Bénin)

Elise by/de Saho Zoh (ISMA, Bénin)

Et si Dieu avait tort (“And if God were wrong”) by/de Palyikem Kpatchaa (Esec, Togo)

Je danse, donc je suis (“I dance, therefore I am”) by/d’Aissata Ouarma (ISIS, Burkina Faso)

Kadi (Lanterne | Lantern) by/de Lawrence Agbetsise (Nafti, Ghana)

Kanko l'Ixelloise by/de Boubacar Sangaré (ISIS, Burkina Faso)

Karité, manne des savanes (Shea butter, a blessing of the Savanna) by/d’Félicia Abenan Abossi Kouakou (ISACOM, Côte d'Ivoire)

Liberté emprisonnée (“Freedom imprisoned”) by/de Sara Mikayil (ESAV, Maroc/Morocco)

Sagar by/de Pape Abdoulaye Seck (ESAV, Maroc/Morocco)

Stigmate d'une prêtresse (“Stigma of a priestess”) by/de Prince Kong A. Maneng (ISMA, Bénin)

Le voyageur (“The traveler”) by/de Peter Sedufia (NAFTI, Ghana)

Wakman by/de Sékou Oumar Sidibé (ISIS, Burkina Faso)

Lien | Link

Fespaco en femmes | Women's Fespaco 2013

We are Nigeria | Nous Sommes Nigéria

WE ARE NIGERIA | NOUS SOMMES NIGÉRIA

The African Women in Cinema Blog:

In support of Nigeria where more than 2000 persons were massacred in an attack by Boko Haram.

Soutenons le Nigéria où plus de 2000 personnes ont été massacres dans l’attaque de Boko Haram.

BOUND: Africans vs African Americans by Peres Owino OFFICIAL TEASER TRAILER 2015

BOUND: Africans vs African Americans by U.S.-based Kenyan filmmaker Peres Owino

Peres Owino: "This documentary will look at those things that make us similar, what unifies us as opposed to what divides us. We can all agree we have been dealing with the latter for over 500 years." 

Read the entire interview with Peres Owino by Beti Ellerson, October 2011 during which she discusses her experiences as actor and filmmaker, and her documentary project which explores the sometimes tense relationship between Africans and African Americans: http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2011/10/peres-owino-talks-about-her-documentary.html

OFFICIAL TEASER TRAILER 2015

Nous sommes Charlie | We are Charlie

NOUS SOMMES CHARLIE | WE ARE CHARLIE

Je Suis Charlie | I Am Charlie

Je Suis Charlie | I Am Charlie

Yveline Nathalie Pontalier lance une campagne de crowdfunding sur Indiegogo pour the film “Le club des silencieux” | Yveline Nathalie Pontalier launches a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for the film “The Silent Club”

Photo: Indiegogo.com

Yveline Nathalie Pontalier lance une campagne de crowdfunding sur Indiegogo pour the film “Le club des silencieux” | Yveline Nathalie Pontalier launches a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for the film “The Silent Club”  

Support a documentary film about the Gabonese deaf football club!

Soutenez un film documentaire sur une équipe de football gabonaise composée de sourds et muets ! 

En français : https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/le-club-des-silencieux 

English (translated from French by Beti Ellerson, the Indiegogo webpage):

Documentary filmmaker Yveline Nathalie Pontalier, who was born in 1985 in Libreville, Gabon, completed a professional Bachelor in image techniques with a focus on techniques of cinematography (HELB, former INRACI) in Brussels. Social exclusion issues are recurring themes in her films.

Summary

What are the daily experiences of deaf people who try to make themselves understood? Few people know sign language. In Gabon, some deaf people themselves are not fluent users.

In Libreville, ASMG (Association of Gabonese deaf people) is an association of deaf people that has existed for 27 years. Within the ASMG the football team, “Le club des silencieux de Libreville” (The Silent Club of Libreville), trains with the dream to participate one day in the Deaf World Cup.

Author’s note

Issues regarding social exclusion are recurring topics in my film projects. These choices are driven by my personal background, my environment, and the desire to listen to people to whom no one else listens; allowing them to express themselves by showing the complexity of their lives beyond stereotypes.

Gabon is a society where speech has a central place. How, in this context, do those who cannot make themselves understood, communicate with the outside? How does one construct an identity and integrate into the culture, family, society? If this issue of communication can be highlighted by the importance that speech occupies in Gabon, the integration of deaf people in society remains a collective necessity and the evolution regarding the deaf community, inevitable.

When I arrived in this community, I quickly understood the power of the hierarchy within the association. Also having to rely on the interpreter, I first met the representatives of the association and then the men. They showed me the environment and the activities of their association. They then invited me to their home, a squat that they have occupied for the past several years. It was at this same time that I met, for the first time, some of the members of the soccer team, "The Silent Club of Libreville."

My interest was then quickly drawn to this soccer club that brings out the strength of deaf people and their capacity to be on par with hearing people. Once again I found this force in sport through the physical interaction with the hearing community, hence, ones ability is ultimately guided by his/her own talent. Through a universal sport, this documentary will provide the opportunity to bring the hearing public’s attention to this disability. 

The soccer team will be the point of departure to explore the lives of deaf people: work, family, ... but also to observe how men construct their identity in a patriarchal society, which expects them to have no imperfections.

This community is a microcosm in its own right. A microcosm of Gabonese society which, although living on the margins, shares the daily realities of the Gabonese; the difficulties are compounded by their disability.

In addition, I will show the difficulties with the so-called "normal" society in relation to culture, family, school, work... Marginalised, sometimes excluded, I will illustrate the disability as a relational and personal barrier. The opportunities to act and perform are sometimes thwarted; dreams and projects limited to the reality of their environment.

My place in the film:

As with my previous films, my working approach has been to introduce myself to the inner world of deaf people, both in their professional lives and in their social spaces. For the detailed description of their daily life, I will endeavor to understand the challenges they face and the strategies they might implement to integrate into the hearing world.

As a hearing person my relationship with deaf personalities brings me back indirectly to the subject. Having had difficulty myself in communicating directly with them, to me it seemed indispensable to learn the theories of sign language before shooting.

During the first location research, I let myself be guided by the events and gave as much space as possible to the participants of the film.

The impact of the film

The team’s mission:  to give the film the widest visibility possible!

Initially, our film will be promoted in national and international film festivals and then screened in cinema houses.

Particular attention will be given to national and international TV broadcasters: RTBF, VRT, France Télévisions, Arte holding, Betv, TV5 Monde...

Other ways to support us

You cannot support us financially? That does not matter! Help us by talking about the film to your friends and colleagues! Our project needs you! Make our Dream Yours!

For more information on the Indiegogo campaign and to make a contribution: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/le-club-des-silencieux 

Pour rejoindre la compagne Indiegogo et la soutenir:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/le-club-des-silencieux

2015 Polyglot

Bonne Année

Dun titun ọdún

Feliz Ano Novo

Feliz Año Nuevo

Glückliches neues Jahr

Happy New Year

Heri ya mwaka mpya

Obi ụtọ na afọ ọhụrụ

etc..