The purpose of the African Women in Cinema Blog is to provide a space to discuss diverse topics relating to African women in cinema--filmmakers, actors, producers, and all film professionals. The blog is a public forum of the Centre for the Study and Research of African Women in Cinema.

Le Blog sur les femmes africaines dans le cinéma est un espace pour l'échange d'informations concernant les réalisatrices, comédiennes, productrices, critiques et toutes professionnelles dans ce domaine. Ceci sert de forum public du Centre pour l'étude et la recherche des femmes africaines dans le cinémas.

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27 April 2023

Sarah Maldoror: Luanda hosts an exhibition of her works for the first time in Africa | Luanda acolhe, pela primeira vez em África, exposição sobre cineasta francesa

Sarah Maldoror: Luanda hosts an exhibition of her works for the first time in Africa

 Luanda acolhe, pela primeira vez em África, exposição sobre cineasta francesa 

Photo credit: B. H. Nicolaisen


https://mag.sapo.pt/cinema/atualidade-cinema/artigos/luanda-acolhe-pela-primeira-vez-em-africa-exposicao-sobre-cineasta-francesa-sarah-maldoror


The work of French filmmaker Sarah Maldoror, who was married to the first president of the MPLA, the nationalist Mário Pinto de Andrade, arrives in Luanda on Thursday, through the exhibition “Cinema Tricontinental”, for the first time in Africa.


With an opening scheduled for April 28, the exhibition curated by François Piron and Annouchka de Andrade will be on display at the Iron Palace, after its exposition at the Palais de Tokyo, in Paris, and Torreão Nascente da Cordoaria Nacional, in Lisbon.


The exhibition celebrates and recognizes an icon who was a pioneer in visualizing the struggle of the Angolan people for independence on the international stage, using cinema as a weapon.


The proposal focuses on “walking through a landscape – in effect, here, a landscape of films – mixing animated images, documents, correspondence, photographs and poetry”.


A space will be devoted to the connection that the filmmaker established with Angola through the testimony of two emblematic personalities, the writer Luandino Vieira and, above all, the intellectual and politician Mário Pinto de Andrade, her lifelong companion.


In addition, there will be 'master classes', a round table and film screenings, as well as guided tours in the month of May.


With more than 45 films, of various genres, and many other projects that she did not complete, none of which “completely obeys the laws of the cinematographic genre – documentary, fiction, portrait, landscape, among others –, but all of them are similar in their capacity to place poetry before the word, to fight prejudice and racism and never sacrifice the everyday experience of people's lives in favor of ideas”.


***


Exposição “Cinema Tricontinental” celebra e reconhece cineasta pioneira que apresentou na cena internacional a luta do povo angolano pela sua independência.


O trabalho da cineasta francesa Sarah Maldoror, que foi casada com o primeiro presidente do MPLA, o nacionalista Mário Pinto de Andrade, chega na quinta-feira a Luanda, através da exposição “Cinema Tricontinental”, pela primeira vez em África.

Com abertura marcada para 28 de abril, a exposição com curadoria de François Piron e Annouchka de Andrade vai estar patente no Palácio de Ferro, depois de passar pelo Palais de Tokyo, em Paris, e Torreão Nascente da Cordoaria Nacional, em Lisboa.

A exposição celebra e reconhece um ícone que foi pioneiro em apresentar na cena internacional a luta do povo angolano pela sua independência, usando o cinema como uma arma, segundo um comunicado da organização do evento.

A proposta centra-se numa “deambulação numa paisagem – com efeito, aqui, uma paisagem de filmes – misturando imagens animadas, documentos, correspondência, fotografias e poesia”.

Será consagrado um espaço à ligação que a cineasta estabelecia com Angola através do testemunho de duas personalidades emblemáticas, o escritor Luandino Vieira e, sobretudo, o intelectual e político Mário Pinto de Andrade, seu companheiro de toda a vida, refere a nota.

À margem da exposição vão realizar-se ‘master classes’, uma mesa-redonda e exibições de filmes, bem como visitas guiadas no mês de maio.

Com mais de 45 filmes, de vários géneros, e outros tantos projetos que não concluiu, nenhum “obedece completamente às leis do género cinematográfico – documentário, ficção, retrato, paisagem, entre outros –, mas todos eles se assemelham no cuidado que demonstram em colocar a poesia à frente do discurso, em combater o preconceito e o racismo e em nunca sacrificar a experiência quotidiana da vida das pessoas em prol das ideias”, realçam os organizadores. 

22 April 2023

22 – 04 : International Mother Earth Day | Journée internationale de la Terre nourricière

THE AFRICAN WOMEN IN CINEMA BLOG CELEBRATES | CELEBRE
International Mother Earth Day
Journée internationale de la Terre nourricière

my metaphor about "Pumzi" is life and sacrifice and that we ourselves have to mother mother nature
 
ma métaphore sur "Pumzi" est la vie et le sacrifice et que nous devons nous-mêmes nourrir la terre nourricière
 
--Wanuri Kahiu
 



16 April 2023

Natyvel Pontalier: Sur le fil du zénith (Towards the Zenith) - Ciné-rencontre 2023

Natyvel Pontalier

Sur le fil du zénith (Towards the Zenith)

Ciné-rencontre 2023


Documentaire de creation - 2021 - 55’ - Gabon


https://www.lille.fr/Evenements/Cine-rencontre-Sur-le-fil-du-Zenith


Je viens d’un peuple - les Fangs - où les morts ne quittent jamais les vivants. Mais depuis que nous sommes devenus chrétiens nous n’arrivons plus à les entendre. 


Perdue entre ce que je sais et ce que je vois, entre l’ici bas et l’au-delà, je mène une quête initiatique qui me permet de révéler notre histoire, celle qui n’a pas été transmise.


I come from the Fang people, where the dead never leave the living. However, since our conversion to Christianity, we can no longer hear them.


Lost between what I know and what I see, between here below and the beyond, I journey on an initiatory quest in order to reveal our story; the story that has not been transmitted.



Excerpts of an interview from the Tënk Blog. Translation from French by Beti Ellerson

https://leblogdetenk.fr/sur-le-fil-du-zenith-de-natyvel-pontalier/

Tënk : Peux-tu nous présenter ton film ?

Natyvel Pontalier : Pour mon film “Sur le fil du zénith”, je suis partie de la perte d’un objet ancestral, le Byeri. C’est un objet rituel qui était au fondement des croyances de mon clan, de ma famille. J’ai appris la perte de cet objet il y a quelques années, et ça m’a amenée à me questionner sur l’évangélisation et la colonisation du Gabon. Il y avait aussi l’actualité autour de la restitution des biens coloniaux qui me questionnait beaucoup. Ce sont ces deux questionnements qui m’ont animée, et qui m’ont permis de relier mon expérience personnelle à la “Grande Histoire”.


Tënk: Could you tell us about your film?

Natyvel Pontalier: For my film “Sur le fil du zénith”, I started with the loss of an ancestral object, the Byeri. It is a ritual object which was the foundation of the beliefs of my clan, of my family. I learned about the loss of this object a few years ago, and it led me to question myself about the evangelization and colonization of Gabon. There was also the controversy around the restitution of colonial property which provoked me to ask questions as well. These are the two main issues that spurred my critical inquiry, and which allowed me to link my personal experience to the “Great History”.

 

***


Tënk : “Sur le fil du zénith” s’ouvre sur une séquence de rêve, peux-tu nous parler de la place du rêve dans ton film ?

Natyvel Pontalier : Dans le cadre de ce film, le rêve occupe une place importante parce qu’il fait partie de la cosmogonie de mes ancêtres au Gabon, et c’était important de rester fidèle à ces traditions dont parle le film. Le rêve est un moyen pour les ancêtres de nous initier, de transmettre une histoire, ou de nous projeter vers le futur. 

Et puis l’idée aussi, c’était d’intégrer des séquences de rêve ou des restitutions de rite d’initiation pour brouiller l’aspect temporel et créer un décalage. Sur l’ensemble du film, j’avais une démarche de déréalisation qui se joue dans la narration, mais aussi à travers le dispositif filmique avec des ralentis. Je voulais que les spectateurs perdent leurs repères pour qu’ils puissent accepter ces histoires-là et croire à des choses qui ne sont pas concrètes.

 

Tënk: “Sur le fil du zénith” opens with a dream sequence, can you tell us about the place of dreams in your film?

Natyvel Pontalier: Within the film structure, the dream occupies an important place because it is part of the cosmogony of my ancestors in Gabon, and it was important to remain faithful to these traditions about which the film speaks. Dreams are the means through which the ancestors initiate us, how they transmit a story, how they project us into the future. 

The idea also was to integrate the dream sequences, the recovery of initiation rites, in order to blur the temporal aspect and to create a time-lag. Throughout the film, I had an approach of derealization that plays out in the narration, but also through the use of slow motion. I wanted the spectators to go beyond what they know in order to accept these stories and believe in things that are not concrete.


***


Tënk : Tu te mets toi-même en scène dans le film, pourquoi ce choix ?

Natyvel Pontalier : L’idée du film c’était de plonger dans ma tête, dans mes questionnements, pour éviter d’avoir un point de vue ethnographique. J’avais besoin d’assumer ma place, d’assumer mon regard, ma position d’entre-deux, d’être autant ici que de là-bas. C’est pour ça que c’était important pour moi de me mettre en scène. 

Dès l’écriture du film, j’avais déjà des envies de scènes: moi devant un miroir, moi en train de faire des soins, parce que c’était des réminiscences, des choses que j’avais déjà vues. Ce qui fait de ce film quelque chose de différent, c’est qu’il s’agit de mon point de vue, avec mes expériences et mon histoire. Et puis comme la matière du film est assez hétérogène, il fallait construire la narration de façon à ce qu’on retrouve ma présence par la voix off, mais aussi à travers ma présence physique et mon regard.


Tënk: You put yourself in the story, why this choice?

Natyvel Pontalier: The idea of the film was to plunge into my head, into my questionings, to avoid having an ethnographic point of view. I needed to take responsibility, to accept my place, to assume my gaze, my in-between position, to be as much from here as from there. Which is why it was important for me to put myself inside the film. 

Right from the beginning of the creation of the film script, I already had thoughts about what I wanted for the scenes: me in front of a mirror, me doing treatments, because they were reminiscences, things that I had already seen. What gives this film its specificity is that it is from my point of view, about my experiences and about my story. And since the material of the film is rather disparate, the narration had to be constructed in such a way that my presence is found at the same time through the voiceover, as through my physical presence and through my gaze.


***

 

Tënk : Justement, ta voix nous guide à travers le film, comment a-t-elle évolué aux différentes étapes du projet ?

Natyvel Pontalier : L’écriture de la voix-off s’est construite en parallèle du montage du film. C’est ma voix intérieure qui interroge ce qui est vécu. Elle apporte une distance, voire une dissonance, par rapport à ce que l’on voit et ce qu’on entend. Le ton de ma voix a la couleur de l’émotion de ce que je raconte. Elle prend tour à tour la forme d’une adresse, celle d’une introspection et celle d’une conteuse. Le récit se déploie suivant l’état de mes recherches, qui parfois nous laissent dans le doute, en suspens, puis ouvre à une autre étape qui nous pousse à continuer le voyage… 


Tënk: In fact, your voice guides us through the film, how did it evolved throughout the different stages of the project?

Natyvel Pontalier: The writing of the voice-off was constructed parallel with the film editing. It is my inner voice that questions what is being experienced. It brings a distance, even a dissonance, in relation to what we see and what we hear. The tone of my voice has the color of the emotion of what I relate. It alternately takes the form of a discourse, that of an introspection and that of a storyteller. The story unfolds according to the stages of my research, which sometimes leaves us in doubt, in suspense, then opens into another stage which pushes us to continue the journey... 




12 April 2023

"I Dared To Make A Film": A Tribute To The Life And Work Of Safi Faye - Indiana University Cinema

"I Dared To Make A Film":
A Tribute To The Life And Work Of Safi Faye


The essay from which the visual tribute was drawn will appear in the Fall 2023 Issue of Black Camera


Date and time:

Wed, April 12, 3 pm; Free, no ticket required

The Best of FESPACO


https://cinema.indiana.edu/upcoming-films/screening/2023-spring-program-wednesday-april-12-300pm


Join visiting scholar Beti Ellerson for a conversation on director Safi Faye, the "mother of African filmmaking."


About "I dared to make a film": A Tribute to the Life and Work of Safi Faye

Note: this talk will take place at the Cook Center, Maxwell Hall.


Often called "the mother of African cinema," Senegalese filmmaker Safi Faye was the first African woman to direct a commercial feature film. Join visiting scholar Beti Ellerson for a conversation on Faye's revolutionary work and career, and its lasting impact on African filmmaking.


Beti Ellerson is the founder and director of the Centre for the Study of Research of African Women in Cinema. She is the author of Sisters of the Screen: Women of African on Film, Video, and Television and director of a documentary based on her book.


This public talk is presented as part of the Best of FESPACO programming, organized in collaboration between IU Cinema, Black Camera, the African Studies Program, and the Center for Documentary Research and Practice.

07 April 2023

PerAnkh – The June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive - 15 April to 4 June 2023 - Raven Row Gallery (London)

PerAnkh – The June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive
15 April to 4 June 2023
Raven Row Gallery (London) 

http://www.ravenrow.org/exhibition/perankh/
Image: Zineb Sedira, poster for PerAnkh, 2023
 
The June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive (JGPACA) holds a unique collection of artefacts and archival material, which has at its core the interest of Pan-African cinema and its relationship with Black British cinema and culture. Over a period of seven weeks, the exhibition at Raven Row will reveal histories and ideas in African and African diasporic film, recalling significant events and bringing together the work of filmmakers around a wide range of themes, debates and interests.  

01 April 2023

Mame Woury Thioubou : Rebeuss, Chambre 11 - Selection Officielle - Vues d’Afrique 39e Festival International de Cinéma 2023

Mame Woury Thioubou

Rebeuss, Chambre 11

Selection Officielle - Vues d’Afrique 39e Festival International de Cinéma 2023


Sénégal - 41min - documentaire - 2021


Synopsis 

Dans la nuit du Mardi 27 Août 2019, Cheikh Ndiaye, âgé de 18 ans et Babacar Mané, 19 ans meurent dans leur cellule de la prison de Rebeuss à Dakar. Une tragédie qui ravive un débat latent sur les conditions de vie dans la plus grande prison du pays. Cheikh Ndiaye et Babacar Mané ont perdu la vie dans des conditions effroyables et seulement pour des délits mineurs. Leur mort a suscité pendant un moment un débat sur la condition carcérale...


During the night of Tuesday 27 August 2019, 18-years-old Cheikh Ndiaye, and 19-years-old Babacar Mané, die in their cell at the Rebeuss prison in Dakar. A tragedy that revived a smoldering debate on the living conditions in the country’s large prisons. Cheikh Ndiaye and Babacar Mané lost their lives under horrifying conditions and for only minor offenses. At the time, their deaths sparked off a passionate discussion on conditions in the prison environment.


Bio

Après une Maîtrise en Géographie de l’Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Mame Woury Thioubou choisit le journalisme. En 2009, elle intègre le Master de réalisation de Documentaire de création de l’Université Gaston Berger de Saint Louis (UGB) où elle réalise son film de fin d’études « Face à Face ». Désireuse de porter les combats de la société sénégalaise, elles’engage dans la réalisation de son premier moyen métrage « Agora Braille » qui traite de l’inclusion des non-voyants dans le système scolaire sénégalais.

Mame Woury Thioubou is a journalist by training. In 2009, she enrolled in the Master of Creative Documentary program at the Gaston Berger University of Saint Louis. Face à face, her graduation film which she made in 2009, won the l’Ebène du Meilleur documentaire au Festival du Film de quartier (best documentary). In 2011, she directed Une journée avec Ngoné as part of a series in collaboration with Arte. In 2016, she directed her first medium-length film, Agora Braille, which deals with the education of blind children in Senegal focusing on the struggle of an emblematic woman, Aïssata Pouye. In 2018, she directed her first feature documentary Fiifiiré en Pays Cuballo. 

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