28 October 2022

JCC Carthage Festival 2022: Jury documentaire entièrement féminin | An all-woman documentary jury

JCC Carthage Festival 2022
Jury documentaire entièrement féminin | An all-woman documentary jury

Dans la 33ème édition des Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage
Les membres du jury de la compétition officielle des Longs et courts métrages Documentaires :

Marie Clémence Paes - Présidente du jury (Madagascar)
Souad Laabiz - Membre du jury (Algérie)
Nadia El Fani - Membre du jury (Franco -Tunisienne)
Claire Diao - Membre du jury - (France – Burkina Faso)

At the 33rd edition of Carthage Film Festival
Members of the jury of the official competition for Feature and Short Documentaries :

Marie Clémence Paes - Jury President (Madagascar)
Souad Laabiz - Member of the Jury (Algeria)
Nadia EL Fani - Member of the Jury (Frence  - Tunisia)
Claire Diao - Member of the Jury - (France – Burkina Faso)

27 October 2022

Adetoro Makinde: In the Wake of Mourning (Urban World Film Festival)

Adetoro Makinde: In the Wake of Mourning
(Urban World Film Festival)

In the Wake of Mourning
Adetoro Makinde
Fiction - 6mins - 2022 - USA

Description
Isolated by the pandemic, a disabled youth discovers James Baldwin and breaks from the constraints of his mind and identity.

Bio
A Nigerian-American award-winning filmmaker, Adetoro Makinde is a graduate of Georgetown University and Duke Ellington School of the Arts. She launched her company Backdoor Films, and its social impact subsidiary Hyphenate Africa, having directed and/or produced multiple premieres to the Sundance Film Festival. Projects in development include the Hurricane Katrina biopic, THE AMERICAN CAN previously optioned by Sony Pictures to star Will Smith. She was selected in 2022 by IMDBPro as “Female Producer To Watch

26 October 2022

Afrique en vision: Cinémas des femmes africaines - 1-4 dec 2022 - Bordeaux & Poitiers

Afrique en vision:
Cinémas des femmes africaines
1-4 dec 2022
Bordeaux & Poitiers

Voici venue la deuxième édition d'Afriques en vision ! Cette manifestation cinématographique, initiée par l’Institut des Afriques, revient en force cette année avec une programmation qui met à l’honneur les regards de réalisatrices africaines qui documentent, racontent, questionnent les transformations sociétales en cours sur leur continent mais également à l’échelle planétaire. À l’heure où le monde s’interroge sur le réchauffement climatique, les crises migratoires, la multiplication des zones de conflit et bien d’autres faits de notre époque, les réalisatrices sélectionnées pour Afriques en vision nous partagent leurs grilles de lectures lucides et inspirées.


***


Welcome to the second edition of Afriques en vision! This film event, initiated by the Institut des Afriques, returns in full force this year with a program that showcases African women filmmakers, whose films document, recount, problematize, the societal transformation that is underway throughout the continent and globally. At a time when the world confronts the effects of global warming, the migration crises, the proliferation of conflict zones and the many other issues of our time, the women makers selected for Afriques en vision share their brilliant and inspiring insights. 


Du 1er au 4 décembre au Cinéma Utopia Bordeaux, La Troisième porte à gauche, FRAC MÉCA et au Cinéma Le Dietrich (Poitiers).


Table-ronde : La représentation des femmes dans les cinémas africains d’aujourd’hui

Samedi 3 décembre,  17 h 30


Intervenant.e.s :

Myriam Bakir (réalisatrice

Hicham Falah (directeur artistique du Festival International de Films de Femmes de Salé)

Patricia Caillé (enseignante et chercheuse)

Claire Diao (journaliste et critique de cinéma franco-burkinabé)

et Alessandro Jedlowski (anthropologue des médias et des migrations)


Longtemps représentées dans les films africains par des réalisateurs qui n’ont pas manqué de leur rendre hommage et de dénoncer les inégalités sociales, les femmes étaient (ou sont encore ?) dans le cinéma, africain et français par ailleurs, objet plutôt que sujet. Pourtant, des films faits par des femmes ont bien existé dans l’histoire du cinéma africain : Thérèse Sita Bella (Tam-Tam à Paris, 1963), Sarah Maldoror (Monangambée, 1968), Safi Faye (Lettre paysanne, 1975), entre autres. À l’avant-garde, ces réalisatrices africaines ont ouvert la voie à une jeune génération de femmes pour lesquelles faire du cinéma n’est pas seulement un moyen d’expression de sa propre subjectivité, mais également vecteur de leurs regards sur des probléma tiques sociales collectives.


Un événement proposé par l'Institut des Afriques, la Chaire Diasporas Africaines, Africiné et DocA.

Avec le soutien de la Région Nouvelle Aquitaine, Ville de Bordeaux, Département de la Gironde et l'Institut Français du Maroc.


Partenaires opérationnels : Cinéma Utopia Bordeaux, ALCA, Migrinter, Espace Mendès France, Filmer le travail, La Troisième porte à gauche, LAM (Laboratoire Les Afriques dans le monde), FRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA, Le Rocher de Palmer, La Ruche documentaire (Agadir) et Handle With Care.


Partenaires médias : Radio Nova Bordeaux, Le Type, Radio La Clé des ondes et Radio Paul Bert.


Conception graphique : Hugo Marchais 

24 October 2022

Pascale Obolo: « La Fabrique des contre-récits » (Making counter-narratives) à la Cité audacieuse, Paris

Pascale Obolo: Projection du film « La Fabrique des contre-récits » à la Cité audacieuse, Paris - lundi 24 octobre 2022 à 19h 


Pascale Obolo: Film screening of « La Fabrique des contre-récits » (Making counter-narratives) à la Cité audacieuse, Paris - Monday October 24, 2022 at 7 p.m.


https://www.centre-simone-de-beauvoir.com/category/agenda/


La Fabrique des contre-récits de Pascale Obolo. Belgique, France, 2021, 65 min

(Making counter-narratives) by Pascale Obolo. Belgium, France, 2021, 65 mins


En partenariat avec le Centre culturel de Strombeek & le S.M.A.K, musée municipal d’art contemporain.

In partnership with the Strombeek Cultural Center & the SMAK, Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (Belgium).


Lundi 24 octobre 2022 à 19h | Monday October 24, 2022 at 7 p.m. 

à La Cité Audacieuse 9 rue de Vaugirard 75006 Paris


La séance sera suivie d’une rencontre avec Pascale Obolo.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Pascale Obolo.


Le film :

Que signifie écrire un contre-récit ?


Les plasticiennes Luna Mahoux, Agnès Lalau, Laura Nsengiyumva, Mireille Asia Nyembo, et la photographe Hélène Hamou, évoquent leur parcours artistique et professionnel en Belgique.


Confrontées à une histoire de l’art occidentale et blanche, elles parlent dans leur travaux de l’héritage colonial et de leur corps. Elles élaborent une contre-narration face à un récit qui se veut “universaliste” mais qui est de fait réducteur.


Elles soulèvent les questions du racisme ordinaire et structurel présent dans les institutions d’art et les écoles occidentales.


Ces artistes mènent un véritable combat pour inventer des nouveaux mondes et de nouvelles pratiques en transmettant des récits émanant de personnes racisées dont les voix sont réduites la plupart du temps au silence.


What does it mean to write a counter-narrative?

 
Visual artists Luna Mahoux, Agnès Lalau, Laura Nsengiyumva, Mireille Asia Nyembo, and photographer Hélène Hamou, relate their artistic and professional journey in Belgium.

 
Confronted with a history of Western and white art, they talk about their work as it relates to their body and in the context of the heritage of colonialism. By developing a counter-narrative, they confront this narrative that claims “universality” but that is in fact reductive.

 
They raise questions of ordinary and structural racism present in Western art institutions and schools.


These artists lead a genuine fight to recreate new worlds and new practices by imparting stories from racialized people, whose voices are often silenced.


Pascale Obolo

Cinéaste, chercheuse, commissaire d’exposition indépendante, rédactrice en chef de la revue Afrikadaa.


Née à Yaoundé, Cameroun, elle étudie au Conservatoire Libre du cinéma Français en section réalisation, puis obtient un master de cinéma à l’Université Paris 8, section cinéma expérimental. Ses premiers films documentent le début du mouvement Hip Hop et la scène parisienne graffiti. Cinéaste féministe, elle s’est penchée sur la place des femmes dans les milieux artistiques.


« Mes recherches portent sur les différentes pratiques de transmissions des savoirs et les pédagogies décoloniales en art et dans les milieux militants. »


Ses domaines de réflexion interrogent la pratique muséale dans un processus de recomposition des récits inclusifs.


Filmmaker, researcher, independent exhibition curator, editor-in-chief of the magazine Afrikadaa.

Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, she studied directing at the Conservatoire Libre du cinéma Français, then obtained a Master's in cinema at Université Paris 8, with a specialization in experimental cinema. Her earlier films document the beginning of the Hip Hop movement and the Parisian graffiti scene. A feminist cineaste, she focuses on women in the world of art.


“My research focuses on the different practices of transmission of knowledge and decolonial pedagogies in art and activism.” 


Her spheres of reflection interrogate extant museum practice, hence she works within a process of recomposing inclusive narratives.


Pascale Obolo est à l’origine de la structure Afrikadaa Lab, revue d’art contemporain.

Elle dirige aussi l’African Art Book Fair (AABF).


Pascale Obolo is the creator of Afrikadaa Lab, a contemporary art magazine.
She also directs the African Art Book Fair (AABF).



En partenariat avec la Cinématheque du documentaire, Foundation des femmes, Ville de Paris

In partnership with la Cinématheque du documentaire, Foundation des femmes, Ville de Paris

21 October 2022

Alice Diop receives the prestigious Jean Vigo 2022 Award for "Saint Omer", in the footsteps of her ancestor Ousmane Sembene (La Noire de..., 1966)

With “Saint Omer”, Alice Diop receives the prestigious Jean Vigo 2022 Award in the footsteps of her ancestor Ousmane Sembene for the film La Noire de..., in 1966


Alice Diop receives the 70th Jean Vigo Award. A French film prize, presented since 1951 (to filmmakers such as Alain Resnais, Jean-Luc Godard, Maurice Pialat, or more recently, to filmmakers Axelle Ropert, Sophie Letourneur, etc.).


And I may add: in 1966, the award was presented to Alice Diop's illustrious Senegalese ancestor, Ousmane Sembene, for the pioneering film La Noire de..., also relating the tragic story of an African woman living in France, as the main protagonist.


The prestigious Jean-Vigo 2022 award was presented to Alice Diop on Wednesday, 19 October, at the Centre Pompidou for her first fiction feature, Saint Omer. The jury praised “her unique way of reflecting our era, with the unthinkable as a point of departure—connecting the intimate and the collective, society and history, the inexplicable and the political necessity to find meaning.”  This trial-film, which will be released in theaters on November 23, candidly traces the true story of Fabienne Kabou, an infanticidal mother who abandoned her 15-month-old daughter on a beach in Berck-sur-Mer in 2013. In the film, the young novelist Rama attends the trial of Laurence Coly and while listening to the testimonies, sees her certitudes upended.


The new award consolidates the already impressive and remarkable international journey of Saint Omer. Selected in the official competition at the Mostra de Venise 2022, where it won awards back-to-back, the Silver Lion and the Lion of the Future, the film will represent France for the 2023 Oscars, in the “best international film” category. Active for more than fifteen years in the documentary genre (les Sénégalaises et la Sénégauloise, la Mort de Danton (the Death of Danton), Vers la tendresse (Towards tenderness)—winner of the César for best short film in 2017…), Alice Diop attained international recognition for the first time with Nous (awarded in Berlin), a majestic odyssey from north to south of the Parisian peripheral suburbs along the [rapid-transit commuter train] RER B, in the footsteps of François Maspero.

by Beti Ellerson

Based on French-language text in the Liberation.

20 October 2022

Djia Mambu - Cinidb.Africa podcast - Français - 26 - 10 - 2022

Djia Mambu
Cinidb.Africa podcast
Français
26 - 10 - 2022


Source: Cinidb.Africa


Cinidb.Africa - Français (Djia Mambu) - https://anchor.fm/cinidbafricafr/episodes/Bande-Annonce-e1ogm9v


De Bamako à Djibouti en passant par Tunis, Libreville et le Cape-vert sans oublier Port-au-Prince, cette série de 6 épisodes va vous emmener à travers un voyage sonore dans les univers cinématographiques de cinéastes émergents.


La série Cinidb-podcast est une initiative de Cinidb.Africa - un projet visant à connecter les professionnels du cinéma africain entre eux et avec le public - financé par la GIZ - la société allemande de coopération internationale et le Goethe-Institut.


Ce podcast est disponible en portugais, en français et en anglais.


Lula Ali Ismail

Djia Mambu parle avec la réalisatrice djiboutienne Lula Ali Ismail du cinéma à Djibouti, ainsi que de comment Lula Ali Ismail a commencé dans le cinéma et où elle en est aujourd'hui. (26-10-2022)

https://anchor.fm/cinidbafricafr/episodes/a-tourne--Djibouti-e1pp7g4/a-a8ohmqd



Janaína Oliveira - Cinidb.Africa podcast - Português - 26 - 10 - 2022

Janaína Oliveira
Cinidb.Africa podcast
 Português 
26 - 10 - 2022


Source: Cinidb.Africa



Cinidb.Africa - Português (Janaína Oliveira) - https://anchor.fm/cinidb-africa-pr/episodes/Trailer-e1ogqva


Seja bem vindo à série de Podcasts do Cinidb com profissionais de cinema da África e da diáspora. A série é apresentada por três especialistas e conta com a participação de diretores, produtores, curadores, críticos e acadêmicos. Cada episódio traz um convidado que fala sobre seu trabalho, compartilhando também insights e reflexões sobre a história, o atual status e os desafios futuros dos cinemas da África e da diáspora.

A série Cinidb-podcast é uma iniciativa do Cinidb.Africa – um projeto que visa conectar profissionais do cinema africano e diaspórico uns com os outros e com o público. 

Grace Passô

Nesta conversa fundamental, a diretora, roteirista e atris brasileira Grace Passô fala como Janaína Oliveira sobre sua trajetória compartilhando questões centrais que orientam seus trabalhos e processos criativos. Passô faz também uma franca reflexão sobre os desafios das experiências negras no cinema no Brasil contemporâneo. (10-26-2022)

https://anchor.fm/cinidb.../episodes/Grace-Pass-e1pp869

Katarina Hedren - Cinidb.Africa podcast - English - 26 - 10 - 2022

Katarina Hedren
Cinidb.Africa podcast
English - Français - Português 
26 - 10 - 2022


Source: Cinidb.Africa


Cinidb.Africa - English (Katarina Hedren) - https://anchor.fm/cinidb-africa-eng/episodes/Trailer-e1oeipu


This series, about African film professionals, is hosted by 3 experts in the field of African cinemas, features directors, producers, curators, critics and scholars from across the African continent and the diaspora. Each episode features one guest, who talks about their work, shares insights and reflects on the past, the present and the future of cinema in Africa and beyond.


The Cinidb podcast series is funded by The GIZ - The German Agency for International Cooperation and the Goethe-Institut and is brought to you in 3 languages: English, French and Portuguese.


Anisia Uzeyman

In this rich conversation, Rwanda-born actress, playwright and director, Anisia Uzeyman, talks to Katarina Hedrén about art as legacy and proof of life, and about the definition and meaning of ethical collaboration. (10-26-2022) @ https://anchor.fm/cinidb-africa-eng/episodes/Anisia-Uzeyman-e1pp89s



19 October 2022

Sylvia of YIRITV: The Woman King revue - YouTube review

FOCUS
African women's reflections on The Woman King

Sylvia of YIRITV

The Woman King revue - YouTube review


During this 15:56 minute review Sylvia captivates the francophone YouTube audience of YIRITV, which has more than 200k subscribers, with a passionate discussion about the film The Woman King. With more than 17,000 views and over 200 comments, the viewers are eager to engage with the myriad questions, concerns, topics that she raises.


ABOUT YIRTV

What does YIRTV mean? "YIRI" means "tree", which is the symbol of life and of humanity. In Africa, the tree is a sacred symbol of goodness. "YIRITV" is the palaver tree. Active since 2019, the YIRITV channel is where moviegoers come together to share their opinion about AFRO cinema.


This post will be updated to include an English summary of her review.


YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-D7xo0uAqc


Contents include:

Introduction

La representation des femmes | Representations of women

L’histoire reinventee | A history reinvented

Deja-vu 

Des personnages incroyables | remarkable characters

La notion de famille | the notion of family

Les accents | the accents of the characters

À voir absolument | definitely a must-see



15 October 2022

FALILA GBADAMASSI interview with/avec CORNÉLIA GLELE - The Woman King": how the actresses learned Fon, the language of the "Agodjiés" of Benin | comment les actrices ont appris le fon, la langue des "Agodjiés" du Bénin

FOCUS
African women's reflections on The Woman King

Falila Gbadamassi, introduction and interview with Cornélia Glele

The Woman King": how the actresses learned Fon, the language of the "Agodjiés" of Benin 
Cornélia Glele is one of the two background consultants who took part in the American production.

"The Woman King" : comment les actrices ont appris le fon, la langue des "Agodjiés" du Bénin
Cornélia Glele est l'une des deux consultantes en fon qui a participé à la production américaine.

Translation from French by Beti Ellerson

Source (version originale en Français): https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/afrique/culture-africaine/the-woman-king-comment-les-actrices-ont-appris-le-fon-la-langue-des-agodjies-du-benin_5395819.html


Beninese filmmaker Cornélia Glele launched the International Women's Film Festival of Cotonou (FIFF) in 2019, whose aim is to promote film productions made by African women. Recently, she worked on the film The Woman King by Gina Prince-Bythewood. Her mission was to assist the cast—Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch and Sheila Atim—to master Fon, one of the main languages of Benin and which is spoken by the Amazons, who are originally from the south of the country. The Woman King, which evokes the warrior exploits of the Amazons, is pure Hollywood entertainment, while at the same time a symbolically just cultural product, even if, like all fiction, The Woman King takes some liberties with history.*


Franceinfo Afrique: You are listed in the credits of the film The Woman King as a Fon-language consultant. What did your job consist of? 


Cornélia Glele
Along with Beninese actress Carole Lokossou, our role was to teach Fon to the various actresses and actors of the film, a dozen in all. Since it was shot during the pandemic, we did Zoom meetings all the time, about one hour a day for each actor. We responded to each one with their dialogue in Fon. We also worked with the music team, for example, translating into Fon and verifying that the sound of the recordings in the Fon language was good.


Is it easy to learn Fon? 

Fon is not an easy language to acquire but we had good students. It was a very enjoyable experience teaching it. We experienced a lot during this project.


In Benin, The Woman King has been criticized for cultural appropriation. The question is who tells Africans’ stories and to what extent they are able to do so themselves, especially cinematic stories. Your reflections? 


I don't know if it is a story that belongs only to Africa or specifically to Benin. I believe that it is also their history, that it is the history of humanity. The slave trade took place along the entire coast of the continent: people were deported from Benin and were taken to America. Is it any less the history of an African American than of a Beninese who remained in Benin? I don't think so. It is all of our history and each decides to tell it as she or he feels. In Benin, we are not yet able to tell this story because we certainly do not have the means to do so. However, at the present, there is a statue in Benin that represents an Amazon, which demonstrates that the Beninese State had the means to erect this monument. Perhaps in a few years it may be able to invest in a large production such as The Woman King.


You are the director of a festival dedicated to women in cinema. What inspired you about this cast, this majority-woman team as a contribution to the history of extraordinary women?


The film was proposed by a woman (Maria Bello), produced by a woman (Viola Davis), directed by a woman (Gina prince-Bythewood), edited by a woman. I was very proud to be part of all of this because this film demonstrates that women can bring to reality a production that is presently lauded by the critics. This means that we are capable of doing everything and that it simply takes a bit of willpower. The Woman King is a wonderful experience and I hope it will inspire many women in Benin and in Africa.


What will you take away from this experience?


I learned a lot. I did not know, for example, certain events in the history of the Amazons. Presently, the film’s significance makes this experience unique. In the future, when I am asked which country I come from, this film will make it possible to situate Benin, which means that I don’t have to explain that it is a neighbor of Nigeria. However, what stands out for me above all is the discipline that permeated the space during our work sessions. All the actors practiced constantly to get the right pronunciation. They are real professionals! We would love to work with this kind of people all the time. We don't always have the opportunity on the African continent. 


Of your famous students, who was the best in Fon? 


Trick question (laughter)! I would like to invite them to the FIFF in Cotonou one day and I hope they will accept my invitation. 


*A point drawn from historian Sylvia Serbin, author of Reines d'Afrique et héroïnes de la diaspora noire in an interview by Cédric Cousseau. 
https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/cinema/the-woman-king-les-amazones-du-dahomey-se-sont-elles-opposees-a-la-traite-des-esclaves-comme-le-montre-le-film_5391673.html 

13 October 2022

Nadia El Fani : Capitale parenthese [Capital parenthesis]

Nadia El Fani
Capitale parenthese [Capital parenthesis]


France - 2021 - 70mins


Nadia El Fani presents her film in October, this month at the Festival Cinémondes and at the JCC (Carthage).


Source: https://www.lesfilmsdici.fr/fr/en-developpement/5224-capitale-parenthese.html

Image: les films d'ici. Translation from French by Beti Ellerson


"Restez chez vous". Trois mots. Le 17 Mars 2020 tout s’arrête. L’évasion est interdite. Filmer le rien. Je décide de prendre ma caméra chaque jour. Je fais tout à l'instinct. Mon appartement au sixième étage a une perspective dégagée sur le ciel, une vue plongeante sur un cimetière, une rue, et sur l'autre versant, un grand angle sur la cour d'entrée. Dehors, un kilomètre à la ronde, je filme la vie des autres qui me rappelle que je suis seule. La radio tourne en boucle. La nostalgie du cinéma me rattrape. Moments insolites, poétiques, comiques. Deux mois, je n'en reviens toujours pas!


"Stay at home". Three words. On 17, March 2020 everything stops. Escape is forbidden. Filming the nothingness. I decide to take my camera every day. I do everything on instinct. My apartment on the sixth floor has a clear view of the sky, overlooking a cemetery, a street, and on the other side, a wide-angle view of the entrance of the courtyard. Outside, within a 1-kilometer radius, I film the lives of others, which reminds me that I am alone. The radio runs in a loop. Nostalgia for the cinema catches up with me. Moments: unexpected, poetic, comic. Two months—I am still amazed!


***


Jusqu'à début Mars 2020 mon insouciance (mon inconscience ?) était inébranlable… Jusqu'à l'appel de l'amie qui m'héberge à Tunis : "Nana, les autorités viennent d'annoncer que toute personne arrivant de l'étranger devra rester confinée 14 jours au domicile de son choix…".


La Tunisie s'est confinée bien avant la France. Dans la foulée Transavia m'envoie un e-mail "Votre vol pour Tunis-Carthage du 24 Mars est annulé, remboursement suit…". Décidément l'alignement des planètes n'était pas en ma faveur ! Je ne tournerai pas mon prochain film en Tunisie. Tout mon matériel, caméras, Nagra numérique était prêt. Mon désir de filmer enfin comblé, m'a procuré une immense énergie, elle est toujours là. Je lutte contre ce sentiment de frustration qui gâche le bonheur qu'on ressent à chaque veille de partir en tournage…


Quelques jours plus tard le président Macron nous annonce qu'en France nous allons être confinés à notre tour… Comme bon nombre de Parisiens, je vis dans un petit appartement. Comment supporter l'enfermement ? M'évader par l'œil de ma caméra m'apparait comme une évidence. Ma décision de filmer chaque jour est pour moi un acte de résistance.


Mon appartement au sixième étage, a de nombreuses fenêtres, une perspective dégagée sur le ciel d'un côté, ainsi qu'une vue plongeante sur un cimetière, une rue, une cour, et sur l'autre versant une autre cour, l'entrée de l'immeuble. Par ailleurs mon iPhone me permettra de faire des prises de vues lors de mes sorties. J'écoute aussi beaucoup la radio, j'enregistre des bribes d'émission… Je décide de mettre à profit ce temps qui m’est imposé pour dessiner les contours d’un témoignage.


Un témoignage dont je suis certaine qu’il sera compris par le plus grand nombre, puisque finalement je ne suis pas la seule.


***


Until the beginning of March 2020 my insouciance, (my recklessness?) was unflappable…Until a call from the friend who is hosting me in Tunis: “Nana, the authorities just announced that anyone arriving from abroad must stay in quarantine for 14 days at a home of their choice…”


Tunisia went into lock-down well before France. In the same moment, Transavia sends me an e-mail: Your flight for Tunis-Carthage on 24 March is canceled, a reimbursement will follow…” Decidedly, the alignment of the planets was not in my favor!


I will not shoot my next film in Tunisia. All my equipment, cameras, digital Nagra was ready. My desire to film, finally fulfilled, gave me an immense energy, it is still there. I fight against this feeling of frustration which shatters the happiness that one feels at the eve of each departure for a film shoot.


A few days later President Macron announces that in France we will also go into lockdown. Like many Parisians, I live in a small apartment. How to endure this lockdown? To escape through the eye of my camera seems self-evident. My decision to film every day is for me an act of resistance.

My sixth-floor apartment has many windows, a clear perspective of the sky on one side, as well as a view overlooking a cemetery, a street, a courtyard, and from the other, a view of another courtyard, and the building entrance. In addition, my iPhone will allow me to shoot during my outings. I also listen to the radio a lot, I record snippets of the programs.

I decide to take advantage of this time that has been imposed on me in order to shape the contours of a personal testimony.

A testimony that I am sure many others will recognize, since ultimately I am not the only one. 

Capitale Parenthèse EXTRAIT VF from Les Films d'Ici on Vimeo.