Cannes 2023 : African Women at Cannes | La présence africaine au féminin

Cannes 2023
African Women at Cannes | La présence africaine au féminin

JURYS 

Longs métrages | Features

Rungano Nyoni: Réalisatrice, Scénariste (Zambie)

Maryam Touzani: Scénariste, Réalisatrice (Maroc)

La Cinef et Courts métrages | Shorts

Karidja Touré: Actrice (France)

SELECTION OFFICIELLE | OFFICIAL SELECTION

Competition Longs-métrages | Features

Ramata-Toulaye Sy: Banel & Adama (Sénégal - 2023 - 87min)

https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/banel-e-adama/

Kaouther Ben Hania: Les filles d’Olfa (Tunisia - 2023 - 107min)

PRIX: Oeil d'Or ex-aequo

https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/les-filles-d-olfa/

Un certain regard

Asmae El Moudir: Kadib Abyad | La Mère de tous les mensonges | Mother of All Lies (Morocco - 2023 - 96min)

PRIX: Oeil d'Or ex-aequo

https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/kadib-abyad/

La Cinef

Zineb Wakrim: Ayyur | Moon (Morocco - 2022- 13min)

PRIX: 3rd Prix de la Cinef 2023

https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/ayyur/ 

QUINZAINE DES CINEASTES | DIRECTOR'S FORTNIGHT

Rosine Mbakam: Mambar Pierrette (Cameroun, Belgique - 2023 -  93 minutes)

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2023/05/rosine-mbakam-mambar-pierrette-cannes-quinzaine.html

LES CINEMAS DU MONDE: LA FABRIQUE

Dora Bouchoucha (Tunisia) Marraine de La Fabrique Cinéma 2023 de l'Institut français

En 2023, Dora Bouchoucha, marraine de la Fabrique, accompagnera à son tour 10 réalisatrices et réalisateurs dans le développement de leur premier ou second long métrage.

https://www.lescinemasdumonde.com/fr/la-fabrique/2023/patroness

Nada Riyadh: Moonblind (Egypt)

Moonblind est l'histoire d’une liberté naissante : celle du corps, de l'assignation sexuelle et de la reproduction de la violence. L'histoire nous emmène hors de la civilisation, loin de la ville, pour une immersion au plus profond de l’être, après une expérience traumatique. Après avoir été agressée sexuellement, Badr, la jeune protagoniste, vit un nouveau cauchemar. Pour faire face aux schémas d'attachement malsains qu'ils ont connus dans leur enfance, les survivants d'abus sexuels se retrouvent souvent, à l'adolescence, dans des situations similaires qui leur sont familières. Ils recréent leurs pires cauchemars. Moonblind est une étude viscérale des sujets difficiles que sont les agressions sexuelles, le souvenir traumatique et les relations parents-enfants. Le film pose la question suivante : est-il possible de trouver la rédemption après un passé marqué par la violence ?

https://www.lescinemasdumonde.com/fr/la-fabrique/2023/projet/moonblind

Charlie Kouka: Le Procès de Leïla (Tunisia)

Le Procès de Leïla est une histoire qui me tient beaucoup à cœur car elle me renvoie au milieu duquel je viens. J’ai grandi à Sidi Bouzid, une petite ville au centre de la Tunisie, cette ville qui a vu naitre la révolution de 2011, mais qui, comme beaucoup d’autres villes d’ailleurs, a été délaissée par les autorités pendant des années. Par conséquent, la marginalité y est devenue la norme et la foi religieuse a pris une grande place dans la vie des gens.

Lorsque j’ai entendu dire que l’Islam était en train de vivre sa période moyenâgeuse, l’image m’a marquée, et la figure de Jeanne d’Arc s’est immédiatement imposée à moi. Que serait la vie de Jeanne d’Arc si elle vivait à notre époque et surtout, si elle était de confession musulmane ? Ainsi est née l’histoire de Leïla. Cette fille qui va prendre la religion pour alliée afin de s’émanciper. 

https://www.lescinemasdumonde.com/fr/la-fabrique/2023/projet/le-proces-de-leila

PARALLEL EVENTS

BFI partners with Diversity in Cannes to celebrate Black women filmmakers during the Cannes Film Festival

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2023/05/bfi-partners-with-diversity-in-cannes.html

AFRICA DAY - MENTORSHIP PROGRAM ProjectZ.Africa:
Tsitsi Dangarembga - Novelist, Playwright and Filmmaker
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2023/05/tsitsi-dangarembga-mentorship-marche-cannes.html 

Tsitsi Dangarembga - Novelist, Playwright and Filmmaker - Mentorship Program - Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes

AFRICA DAY - MENTORSHIP PROGRAM ProjectZ.Africa:

Tsitsi Dangarembga - Novelist, Playwright and Filmmaker

THURSDAY 25 May , 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes

Village International - Pantiero - Pavilion no. 215

Project Z.Africa brings international skills to African filmmakers through mentoring with international industry insiders. Mentees who have been paired with international industry talent are contracted to work on its productions. It’s the brainchild of the Institute of Creative Arts for Progress in Africa together with Nyerai Films Plc and the International Images Film Festival for Women.

BFI partners with Diversity in Cannes to celebrate Black women filmmakers during the Cannes Film Festival

BFI partners with Diversity in Cannes to celebrate Black women filmmakers during the Cannes Film Festival

ANNOUNCEMENT

Image: BFI

A delegation of UK filmmakers will be attending the festival to focus on growing international networks and building new creative and financial partnerships.

17 May 2023
Yvonne Ibazebo, Nadine Marsh-Edwards, Kelley Robins Hicks and Shantelle Rochester
We’re partnering with Diversity in Cannes to present Celebrating Black Women in International Film, a curated programme of events and networking opportunities to build meaningful creative and financial partnerships. As part of the programme, a delegation of four UK Black female filmmakers, who are actively seeking partners for current projects, will go to the Cannes Film Festival to connect with their international peers.

With only one Black female director to have ever qualified for competition in Cannes until this year, the BFI with Diversity in Cannes is creating space for Black women filmmakers to challenge narratives and barriers that see them persistently underrepresented in the industry. The cohort of UK filmmakers travelling to the festival as part of the programme are Yvonne Ibazebo, Nadine Marsh-Edwards, Kelley Robins Hicks and Shantelle Rochester.

With additional support from the British Blacklist and Times Up UK, the programme includes two days of events, which will see Black filmmakers talk through their experiences, achievements and perspectives. Events will explore what it is to be a filmmaker from a historically marginalised background, to interrogate the importance and value of authentic authorship and how our experiences bring richness to stories.

“After an overwhelmingly positive response to a very informal coming together of Black female talent at last year’s festival, it became clear how rare opportunities to celebrate female filmmakers of colour are. It has been a pleasure to shape this programme with our partner Diversity in Cannes, supported by the British Blacklist and Times Up UK; organisations who have been championing historically marginalised communities for so many years. We hope the events, coupled with supporting a group of UK filmmakers to travel to Cannes, offers a chance for international Black female filmmakers to develop creative pathways that serve their own voice and artistic practices, while operating in a structures that often presents them with barriers. ”Melanie Hoyes, head of inclusion at the BFI

“Black women directors have been grossly underrepresented and have gone unrecognised at the Cannes Film Festival since inception. In 76 years, there's been only two in competition, Mati Diop in 2019 and Ramata-Toulaye Sy this year. While I celebrate and uplift Sy, the Cannes Film Festival still has work to do. However, I have zero interest in fighting the patriarchy, as you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks. Instead, I will use the Diversity in Cannes platform to honour global black women in film at the Cannes Film Festival, indefinitely, and I’m excited to partner with Melanie Hoyes and the BFI to amplify their voices. ”Yolonda Brinkley, founder of Diversity in Cannes

ANNOUNCEMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY WITH PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/bfi-diversity-cannes-black-women-filmmakers

Cannes 2023. Ramata-Toulaye Sy: Banel & Adama

Cannes 2023

Ramata-Toulaye Sy

Banel & Adama

En Compétition - Longs Métrages -1er Film

Sénégal - 2023 - 87min

Banel and Adama are fiercely in love. The young married couple lives in a remote village in northern Senegal. For them, nothing else exists. Yet their perfect everlasting love is on a collision course with their community’s customs. Because in this world, there is no room for passion, let alone chaos

Banel et Adama s’aiment. Ils vivent dans un village éloigné au Nord du Sénégal. Du monde, ils ne connaissent que ça, en dehors, rien n’existe. Mais l’amour absolu qui les unit va se heurter aux conventions de la communauté. Car là où ils vivent, il n’y a pas de place pour les passions, et encore moins pour le chaos.

Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo (Benimana) : La Fabrique 2022 - Les Cinémas du monde

Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo: Benimana

Rwanda
La Fabrique 2022 - Les Cinémas du monde
Film project in development

Each year, the Fabrique des cinemas du monde selects film projects from around the world, during which the directors are invited to the Cannes Film Festival for two weeks. The activities include meetings, professional interviews and master classes, and the finalization of a script or completion of a budget.

Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, Rwandan filmmaker and producer, was among the participants with her film project, Benimana (Children of God)!.

She had this to say about the project: "It's a film that talks about intergenerational trauma and the need to deconstruct prejudices… portraits of women in Rwanda, of women who were victims of the Tutsi genocide, of survivors, of women who are members of the families of the killers. I especially wanted to work on memory: how it is experienced at the individual level." (During an interview with RFI special correspondent, Isabelle Chenu)

"Benimana is a reflection on how political decisions impact us individually and what it costs us to be part of the community," she stated during an interview with Falila Gbadamassi of France Télévisions Rédaction Afrique

Synopsis

The feature film relates the story of Veneranda as she confronts her past when she learns that her daughter, who was conceived as a result of the rape she suffered during the Rwanda genocide, is pregnant by her boyfriend, presumed to be a Hutu, the ethnic group responsible for the genocide. Convinced that her daughter was raped and afraid that her history will repeat itself through her daughter, she decides to end the pregnancy and the relationship.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
BENIMANA is about intergenerational trauma and the need to deconstruct prejudices and resentments. The film’s characters, who are mainly women, go through successive moments of happiness, chaos and darkness in which love and hate, resentment and reconciliation are intertwined.They thus portray my country, Rwanda, in its effort to rebuild itself after the Tutsi genocide of 1994.

Sources:
lescinemasdumonde link
RFI link
Imagesfrancopones link
francetvinfo link
 

A Celebration of Black Women in Film at the Cannes Film Festival

A Celebration of Black Women in Film at the Cannes Film Festival

Source. https://mailchi.mp/c8b7bc1e540b/black-women-in-film



NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR US BY US, GLOBAL CHANGEMAKERS TO CELEBRATE BLACK WOMEN IN FILM AT FESTIVAL DE CANNES, IN RESPONSE TO GROSS UNDERREPRESENTATION IN COMPETITION, THROUGHOUT 75-YEAR HISTORY

LOS ANGELES - May 17, 2022 - Yolonda Brinkley, creator of Diversity in Cannes, the independent film movement promoting inclusion at the Cannes Film Festival, is pleased to announce Dear Cannes, Do Better: A Celebration of Black Women in Film at the Cannes Film Festival, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Presented by Cheryl Polote-Wiliamson’s Cheryl Magazine and Williamson Media Group, the festivities kick-off today with the launch of #DearCannes, a digital social media campaign, encouraging the Festival de Cannes to dismantle the patriarchy, embrace inclusion and select more black women to compete in competition. The culmination is a day of #blackgirlmagic including the world premiere of The Invitation, a short film commemorating 75 years of The Links, Incorporated, the world’s most formidable organization for black women changemakers, directed by Wendy Eley Jackson.

“In 75 years, the Cannes Film Festival has selected only one black woman director in competition, With the plethora of talented black female voices sounding off at other global film festivals, awareness is no longer an acceptable excuse for the gross underrepresentation of black women directors in competition,”  comments Diversity in Cannes’ Yolonda Brinkley. “As they celebrate their jubilee as the world’s most prestigious film festival and welcome their first female president, I believe change is inevitable. In the interim, delay is denial, and I welcome the opportunity to align with Cheryl Polote-Williamson to celebrate black women in film, at the 75th Festival de Cannes.”

 
A collaboration between Entertainment Publicist and Diversity in Cannes Founder, Yolonda Brinkley, Cheryl Polote-Williamson, editor-in-chief, Cheryl Magazine, Filmmaker Wendy Eley Jackson and Karine Barclais, founder of Pavillon Afriques, Dear Cannes, Do Better: A Celebration of Black Women in Film is the direct result of women changemakers, empowered to build their own table at the world’s most prestigious film festival. No longer awaiting permission from the patriarchy, they’ve created an opportunity for established and emerging black women in film to amplify their authentic voices during the Cannes Film Festival, where they’ve been ignored for the past 75 years.

"After a year working with our production teams and reflecting on the vast examples of how African American experiences have been captured in film, we are honored to demonstrate our commitment to creators of color by taking a stand with Diversity in Cannes”, said Cheryl P. Williamson, Co-Founder of Williamson Media Group." With this body of work, we aim to provide Black women in film with an honorable professional foundation to amplify their voices, create space for their stories and illuminate a path to a sustainable career in film."

In addition to Dear Cannes: Do Better, the digital social media campaign, launching today in harmony with Festival de Cannes’ 75th anniversary, the celebration of black women in film is Wednesday, May 25, 2022. It will kick off with an invitation only breakfast and will extend into the Marché du Film at Pavillon Afriques and the Cannes Short Film Corner.

In solidarity, black women and their allies attending the Celebration of Black Women in Film are invited to wear any combination of black, white and yellow attire and are encouraged to upload their own videos in response to the realization that there’s only been one black woman selected in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in its 75 years. Use hashtags #dearcannes #diversityincannes when posting.

Schedule of Events
11:00: Breakfast (Invitation only)                                                                         

13:00: World Premiere: The Invitation Q&A  (Pavillon Afriques)
14:00: Cannes Conversation: Black Women Tell All
16:00: Cannes Short Film Corner: Black Women in Film (Palais F)
19:00: Cocktail Reception (Pavillon Afriques)
All are welcome. RSVP required by May 23, 2022

###

ABOUT DIVERSITY IN CANNES

Created in 2010 by Yolonda Brinkley, Diversity in Cannes is an independent filmmaker movement promoting inclusion at the Cannes Film Festival. The movement was established to promote the presence of underrepresented filmmakers sharing stories about marginalized populations during the Cannes Film Festival. Specifically, the grassroots initiative provides a platform for globally diverse filmmakers to promote their talents, present their work and expand their international network during the Cannes Film Festival.

ABOUT YOLONDA BRINKLEY
Yolonda Brinkley, a full-service marketing communications professional, is an Illinois MBA with extensive brand development, event production and public relations experience. She holds a BA from Clark Atlanta University & is fluent in French with international experience. A corporately trained marketer, Yolonda worked 10 years at Ford Motor Company, including assignments with the Lincoln Mercury and Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover brands. During her 10-year tenure, Yolonda established herself as a valuable resource within the branded entertainment community. As an entrepreneur, the momentum continues. Since 2008, Yolonda has managed events for the NAACP Hollywood Bureau (Image Awards), the Hollywood Black Film Festival and Filmmakers Alliance. She’s represented actors and filmmakers at global film festivals including Sundance and the Toronto International Film Festival. Yolonda constantly creates opportunities for herself and impacts the global entertainment industry as the creator of Diversity in Cannes, the independent filmmaker movement promoting inclusion at the Cannes Film Festival.


 

Africa - Women - Cannes 75e 2022

Africa - Women - Cannes 75e 2022

Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia), president of the Semaine de la critique Jury

Awards:

Erika Etangsalé: Lèv la tèt dann fenwar | In the Billowing Night by (Prix Doc Alliance 2022 - Doc Day) 

Cinéfondation Cannes 2022
Suzannah Mirghani: Cotton Queen (Sudan)

ArteKino Award

Un Certain Regard
Maryam Touzani: Le Bleu du Caftan (Morocco)

Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
Erige Sehiri: Sous les figues (Tunisia)

Prix EcoProd Award

La Fabrique Cinéma de l’Institut français
-Burkina Faso – Djéliya, Mémoire du Mandingue by Boubacar Sangaré, produced by Mamounata Nikiéma (Pilumpiku Production) - Feature Documentary
-Egypt – Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore by Morad Mostafa, produced by Sawsan Yusuf (Bonanza Films) - Feature Fiction
-Rwanda – Benimana directed and produced by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo (Ejo-Cine) / Feature Fiction

DEENTAL at Cannes
ACP women among the producers participating at the week-long training/workshop/meetings during the 2nd edition of the DEENTAL at Cannes from 18 to 24 mai 2022
-Khadija Mahfou (Cote d'Ivoire)
-Kady Traoré (Burkina Faso)

 

Cannes Short Film Corner

Douleur silencieuse, the first short for Franco-Guinean Aïssa Diaby was selected and screened at the Short Film Corner

Cannes classics
Fatou Cissé: Hommage d’une fille à son père (Mali)

Cannes Cinema
Cannes cinéma (curated by Angèle Diabang, a series of shorts to be broadcast by Cannes Cinema beginning in September 2022 during the Cannes Cinema season in partnership with Ciné-Club, Voir et devoir, les Jeudis) or in the context of Rencontres Cinématographiques de Cannes.
Her selection of shorts:
-Hary Andriaminosoa  et Joel Rakotovelo: The unusual kinky quaint peculiar weird strange rum queer odd and bizarre day of a shadow man
-Saa Kessas: La Voie d’Henriette
-Djelika Mama Traoré: Ma Passion

-Toboe Audrey: N’tcholo
-Fatoumata Bathily: Taajabone

-Kevin Mavakala: La Star 

 

Masterclass (The African Pavillon)

Rahmatou Keita

25 May 

 

ALSO SEE:

A Celebration of Black Women in Film at the Cannes Film Festival
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-celebration-of-black-women-in-film-at-cannes.html

Cannes 2021. Leyla Bouzid: Une histoire d'amour et de désir | A Tale of Love and Desire (Semaine de la Critique)

Leyla Bouzid

Une histoire d'amour et de désir

A Tale of Love and Desire 

(Semaine de la Critique)

Leyla Bouzid
(Tunisia)
France - 2021 - 102min

Synopsis
Ahmed, 18 ans, français d’origine algérienne, a grandi en banlieue parisienne. Sur les bancs de la fac, il rencontre Farah, une jeune tunisienne pleine d’énergie fraîchement débarquée à Paris. Tout en découvrant un corpus de littérature arabe sensuelle et érotique dont il ne soupçonnait pas l’existence, Ahmed tombe très amoureux d'elle et bien que littéralement submergé par le désir, il va tenter d’y résister.

Ahmed, 18, French of Algerian origin, grew up in the suburbs of Paris. At the university, he meets Farah, a young Tunisian girl, full of energy, who has just arrived in Paris. While discovering a collection of sensual and erotic Arab literature he never imagined existed, Ahmed falls head over heels in love with Farah, and although literally overwhelmed with desire, he will try to resist it.

(Source: https://www.semainedelacritique.com/fr/edition/2021/film/une-histoire-damour-et-de-desir)

Cannes 2021. Aïssa Maïga: Marcher sur l'eau | Above Water (Cinema for the Climate | Le cinéma pour le climat)

Update: FESPACO 2021

Competition Feature Documentary

L’étalon d’argent du meilleur documentaire

Silver étalon for the best documentary

Cannes 2021

Aïssa Maïga

Marcher sur l'eau | Above Water

(Cinema for the Climate | Le cinéma pour le climat)

Documentary - 90min - France | Belgium | Niger

Source: https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/infos-communiques/communique/articles/cinema-for-the-climate

Also see: https://filmsdulosange.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DPresse-Marcher-sur-leau.pdf

Synopsis
Marcher sur l'eau a été tourné dans le nord du Niger entre 2018 et 2020 et raconte l'histoire du village de Tatiste, victime du réchauffement climatique, qui se bat pour avoir accès à l’eau par la construction d'un forage. Chaque jour, Houlaye quatorze ans, comme d’autres jeunes filles, marche des kilomètres pour aller puiser l'eau, essentielle à la vie du village. Cette tâche quotidienne les empêche, entre autres, d'être assidues à l'école. L'absence d'eau pousse également les adultes à quitter leur famille chaque année pour aller chercher au-delà des frontières les ressources nécessaires à leur survie. Pourtant, cette région recouvre dans son sous-sol un lac aquifère de plusieurs milliers de kilomètres carrés. Sous l’impulsion des habitants et par l’action de l’ONG Amman Imman un forage apporterait l’eau tant convoitée au centre du village et offrirait à tous une vie meilleure.

***

Between 2028 and 2020, Aïssa Maïga went to Niger to film one of many villages that has been fallen victim to  global warming. Tehre, she followed a little girl, who, while waiting for a  a well to be built, must travel several kilometers for water everyday. Does access to water correlate with access to education for girls in Sub-Saharan African countries? This is another question that is raised in the film.

BIO

Aïssa Maïga est une comédienne française révélée au public avec son rôle dans Les poupées russes de Cédric Klapisch. Elle est ensuite nommée au César comme meilleur espoir féminin pour son rôle dans Bamako d’Abderrahmane Sissako. Elle est remarquée dans des comédies populaires françaises comme Il a déjà tes yeux ou Bienvenue à Marly Gomont, ou dans des drames intimistes tournés en langues étrangères. Elle a notamment été choisie pour interpréter des partitions dramatiques dans The boy who harnessed the wind, de Chiwetel Ejiofor et Taken down, de David Caffrey. En 2021, Aïssa Maïga tournera dans la série anglaise The Fear Index, le long-métrage d’Andrea Bescond et Eric Metayer, Quand tu seras grand et le film américain The man who saved Paris. Aïssa Maïga a co réalisé avec Isabelle Simeoni pour la télévision (Canal Plus) Regard Noir, un road movie documentaire tourné au Brésil, aux États-Unis et en France sur la place des femmes noires dans les fictions et les solutions pour l’inclusion de tous les talents. Marcher sur l’eau est son premier long métrage documentaire.

***

Aïssa Maïga is a French actress and filmmaker.

Cannes 2021 - Marché du Film. Sara Chitambo: "Black people don't get depressed" (South Africa)

Cannes 2021 - Marché du Film

Original title: Black People Don’t Get Depressed

Directed by: Sara Chitambo

Produced by: Cati Weinek (The Ergo Company, South Africa)

Country of production: South Africa, Nigeria, Canada

Project curated by: IEFTA (International Emerging Film Talent Association

 

Source: https://www.marchedufilm.com/projects/black-people-dont-get-depressed/

Synopsis:

A filmmaker despairing for mental peace goes through the unavoidable journey of facing her depression. She speaks to others about their mental health as Africans and undergoes practices that mark ending of suffering. The characters in 3 countries have the commonality of difficult experiences, but also the desire to overcome. Images of transcendence are woven with poetry to build a rich observational film.

Director’s profile:

As a director Sara Chitambo is passionate about telling authentic, emotionally compelling stories and serious about continually mastering her craft as a filmmaker. She holds a Masters Degree in Documentary Film Production from Sussex University and has wide range of experience in television and film production.

Producer’s profile:

Cati has raised finance for feature films, such ‘The Letter Reader’ (2019), ‘The Tokoloshe’ (2018) ‘Mrs Right Guy’ (2016), Vryslag (2015) and the cult classic Gog’Helen’ (2012) Career highlights include developing and producing the Oscar winner Tristan Holmes’ first feature film, “The Fragile King” (release date 2021), developing feature films with award-winning storytellers such as Zola Maseko, Pieter Grobbelaar, Stephina Zwane, and Adze Ugah; and ultimately and above all being a proud parent of two ‘born-free’ babies. 

Cannes 2019: Mati Diop receives/reçoit le Grand Prix

Cannes 2019 - Mati Diop

 Le Grand Prix for /pour Atlantique

Franco-Senegalese Mati Diop receives the Grand Prix at the Festival de Cannes for her film Atlantique. Images: Festival de Cannes

Franco-Senegalaise Mati Diop reçoit le Grand Prix du Festival de Cannes pour son film Atlantique.

LINKS | LIENS

Mati Diop : Atlantique (Cannes 2019)

http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/mati-diop-atlantique.html

Mati Diop’s Atlantique analysis/analyse by/par Falila Gbadamassi

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/mati-diops-atlantique-in-foam-of.html

Mati Diop: "It was very important for me to dedicate a film to this ghost generation" | "C'était très important pour moi de dédier un film à cette génération fantôme". Interview/Entretien by/par Falila Gbadamassi

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/mati-diop-it-was-very-important-for-me.html

Cannes 2019: Maïmouna N'Diaye, member of the jury | membre du jury: interview/entretien by/par Falila Gbadamassi (AfriqueFrance Télévisions)

Cannes 2019: Maïmouna N'Diaye

member of the jury | membre du jury interview/entretien by/par Falila Gbadamassi (AfriqueFrance Télévisions)

Translated excerpts from interview in French by Falila Gbadamassi. AfriqueFrance Télévisions. 13 05 2019

EN FRANÇAIS: https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/cinema/festival-de-cannes/maimouna-ndiaye-il-faut-que-le-cinema-africain-arrive-a-faire

Choice of pursuing a career in Africa rather than Europe:

I admit that I was very lucky. I grew up in Africa, studied in Europe and then came back to the continent. It is indeed a choice, because at one point in my career in Europe, I felt that I had more to gain by working in Africa and I wanted to do things from the continent. It seemed obvious to me.

When I finished my studies, I worked in TV series and feature films in France. And then, there was an off-peak and rather than waiting for roles that did not come, I thought it would be better to collaborate with directors on the continent. And to avoid having to wait between films and because I like to be active, I embarked on the production of documentaries. I have roles in the theatre, in TV series and in the cinema. I am always on the move, because I need it. In addition, if the film industry is to develop, African filmmakers must be allowed to work on location with us.

As ambassador of Fespaco in 2019: Its evolution at the 50th anniversary

There are many things that have changed and others not so much. This year, I had the great honour of being the image of the fiftieth anniversary of Fespaco (Pan-African Festival of Film and Television). This was a privilege for several reasons: First, it is a pan-African festival, my diverse background and my cultural identities echo this [born in Paris of a Senegalese father and a Nigerien mother, grew up in Guinea, lived in France, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal before settling in Burkina Faso]. So I feel that I am at home in all of these places, and am very comfortable. I am international, pan-African and of African descent. I do not see my colour, but I know my cultures. Then, L’Œil du cyclone | The Eye of the Hurricane (2015) and the 12 awards that I received worldwide, and the film itself which received 80, certainly played an important part.

I think that the place of women in our African cinemas has evolved a great deal. They are more and more present in films, even if their roles remain stereotypes, whereas there are other characters to embody. On the technical side, the situation has also changed. It started with women directors, women cinematographers, sound and lighting engineers… They have pushed to be recognised and have asserted themselves in this environment of men. The advent of digital technology has helped to facilitate access to women. They are not only makeup artists, scriptwriters or editors. At this level, the situation has really evolved and it is a pleasure.

…at the level of productions, [African] filmmakers sometimes lack imagination or they do not want to take the time to unleash their imagination. I think that cinema has to make you dream, reflect and, why not, change mentalities or give another point of view. However, I find that we are still too close to what people live on a daily basis. I am a documentary filmmaker, so I will not criticize such an approach. Simply, I think that fiction must go beyond this.

Africans do not always want to see their reality in film, they want to be projected into another reality. People, young people especially, go to see foreign films because, in fact, they allow them to dream, they are taken elsewhere. Our cinema needs to get there. Our films must be seen in Africa and beyond, like all other productions. We have to make films, period! Even if we talk about African cinema, which is often classified as such, ultimately, a good film is a good film. We have to get there and we will succeed. The youth is on the way!

The regional disparity between Maghreb cinema/English-speaking countries and francophone regions in West and Central Africa

We need to understand in the francophone region that cinema is a real industry and that we must put in place genuine cultural policies so that cinema is funded at the level that it merits. Our policies must recognise that cinema pays. It is an idea that does not seem to get through.

Shooting a film involves setting up teams of women and men who, through their work, can support their families. I think that investing in cinema prevents us from having to sacrifice the education of young girls for the benefit of boys. To fund girls' education is to see what they are capable of! As long as cinema is only considered entertainment, we will not get there.

Djia Mambu, journalist and film critic | journaliste et critique de cinéma (Cannes 2019)

Djia Mambu, journalist and film critic

journaliste et critique de cinéma

(Cannes 2019)

Source: Le film français: le premier magazine web des professionals de l'audiovisuel. 19 mai 2019. Excerpts translated from French of an interview by Kevin Bertrand

Image: Semaine de la Critique - Cannes © Photo : Élise Ortiou Campion

EN FRANÇAIS: Les déjeuners du Film français à la Plage des Palmes avec Djia Mambu par Kevin Bertrand  http://www.lefilmfrancais.com/document/cannes2019/quotidien/FF5/index.html#p=10

Djia Mambu comes to Cannes in two capacities: at the invitation of the We Build Change programme and as jury member of the Semaine de la critique.

[To be a member] is a real privilege, especially as I am the first black African woman to be a part of this jury. For me it is very important, it is a wonderful message. Since only the first and second oeuvres are selected at the Semaine de la critique, we as a jury may, perhaps, launch a future "great" filmmaker. That is also important.

[VisuElles], I have always wanted to do something related to cinema. The idea was launched at the end of 2017 with the crisis around the Weinstein affair, of #metoo ... A window opened, and I took the opportunity to concretise this idea in the bilingual capital of Canada, Ottawa. There are already women's film festivals, but VisuElles is the only bilingual festival. We organised the first edition over three days, with only women-directed films… My next challenge is distribution. Contrary to 10 or 15 years ago, African content is no longer lacking. On the other hand, there is a problem of spaces for screening films. Outside of festivals, it is very difficult to see these films.

Cannes 2019: Maryam Touzani's "Adam" (Morocco)

Cannes 2019: Maryam Touzani's Adam (Morocco)

Adam, the first feature film by Moroccan director, Maryam Touzani, in competition in the category "Un certain regard" at the 72nd Festival de Cannes, competing for the "Caméra d'or".

Excerpts from an interview with Maryam Touzani by Kaoutar Laili. HuffPost Maroc. Translation from French. Images: Festival de Cannes.

Adam is the story of a somewhat fortuitous encounter between two women in the medina of Casablanca. The kind of unexpected encounter, as destiny knows so well and that can change the course of a life. Samia is a single, pregnant mother who comes from the countryside to give her child up for adoption. She is welcomed in the home of a young widow, Abla, struggling to make ends meet with her 8-year-old daughter, having lost the taste of life since the death of her husband. Together, the two women make a genuine inner journey of rebuilding, by moving towards each other.

 ...I wanted to share a vision of society through these characters. Adam is an intimist film, centered on the inner experiences of two women. Here the action is not very important, the main focus is the inner journey of the two women and  little girl. My only desire was to tell this film as sincerely as possible and be able to communicate my vision.

[The title of the film] Adam, like the first man, the man who must also sometimes ask questions and return to the origin. For me, it is also a way to recall who ultimately carries life: the woman. Every new life, whether male or female, is carried by a woman. It is thus a reflection that examines the place of the man and that of the woman in our society. It is essential to ask oneself these questions and there are many ways to ask them.

Mati Diop: "It was very important for me to dedicate a film to this ghost generation" | "C'était très important pour moi de dédier un film à cette génération fantôme". Interview/Entretien by/par Falila Gbadamassi (Africine, Cannes 2019)

Mati Diop: "It was very important for me to dedicate a film to this ghost generation" | "C'était très important pour moi de dédier un film à cette génération fantôme". Interview/Entretien by/par Falila Gbadamassi

In collaboration with Africine.org, translated from French by Beti Ellerson and published on the African Women in Cinema Blog. 

EN FRANÇAIS: http://www.africine.org/?menu=art&no=14683

05/19/2019. Images : Festival de Cannes 

Also read | À lire aussi:

Cannes 2019: Mati Diop receives/reçoit le Grand Prix

Mati Diop : Atlantique (Cannes 2019)

Mati Diop’s "Atlantique"  analysis/analyse by/par Falila Gbadamassi

French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop's Atlantique, in competition at the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival. The fiction offers an original point of view of the Senegalese youth who embark on the fatal crossing to reach the European coasts. 

Falila Gbadamassi: You recognised the extent of this illegal emigration by sea in 2008 during a stay in Senegal. For you, in fact, evoking this subject could be done only through the angle of "mythology" as you call it?

Mati Diop: Absolutely! It is a good start because I make a film when I feel that I have a personal and unique contribution to offer to the debate. If it is to make another film about illegal immigration, it's not worth it. Indeed, cinema, gives me extraordinary, magical and powerful tools to tell things differently. I try to benefit from the infinite power that cinema offers. It is really fortunate to have such an extraordinary medium; it's really a magical power!

When you thought about the fantastical element of your film, did the idea of ​​the jinn immediately come to you or did you first explore other ideas?

First, the fact that the lost-at-sea are unburied gave me the idea to bring them back. "Unburied" is associated with "wandering": this belief is universal. Then, the question of what form to give to these ghosts was posed: would they return in flesh and bones out of the ocean, in the form of holograms? There were a variety of ways to bring them back. But I wanted the form of these ghosts to coincide with the culture of Senegal, among others, Muslim. I was very seduced by the djinn imaginary (spirits, in the Muslim culture) and "faru rab" (husbands of the night) who are djinn lovers. Visually, I imagined the djinn lover to enter through the woman’s navel, to possess her and leave. These stories fascinate me. I discovered them gradually during my trips to Dakar. I was inspired by this fantasy especially as it corresponded to the idea that these ghosts are born, in a way, in the imagination of these women (that the contenders initially leave behind them). For me, ghosts are first born in us, it is through our memory that we make them return. It is the imagination that creates ghosts. After, their white eyes, the fever is a physical manifestation of their presence (especially in the film). In Muslim and African culture too, I believe, there are specific hours when spirits come out. I was told these stories when I was a child. As a filmmaker, knowing that at a precise moment, something invisible is supposed to happen, it drives me crazy!

Your film appears as an ode to this exuberant African youth. Was it really your intention to pay tribute to this Senegalese youth?

I especially wanted to pay homage to this youth vanished at sea. This is my primary intention because it was very important for me to dedicate a film to this lost generation, ghost, while giving it life through the living. It is also a way of making sense out of their actions. They have not reached Spain (destination targeted by young Senegalese who go to sea), their dream... But maybe they are for many of those in the riots of 2012 (Note by Africine: especially driven by young Senegalese who opposed a new term of the incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade). Having disappeared at sea, these young people may have allowed the rebirth of a new youth. Anyway, I like to think that these young people who rebelled in 2012 during the “Dakarois Spring” carry in them these missing ones, and that the missing also took something of them when leaving.

Besides, I did not want to make this youth a monolith. I wanted to take into account its diversity and complexity and to show through the characters of the film, the myriad Senegalese, Muslim, American, European influences. Influences related to new technologies, ancestral beliefs. Young people are at the crossroads of so many realities. This breeding ground is incredibly fertile.

This metaphysical dimension that you explore in the cinema, do you believe in it personally?

I believe in fiction!

The filming took place in the dust of Dakar, the Senegalese capital. The atmosphere of the city is too, rendered very well. How did you shoot in this jam-packed city?

The best we could (laughs)! The shooting of Mille soleils (Thousand Suns, 2013, a documentary made in Dakar) went very well. It was nevertheless very physically demanding. On the scale of a feature film, I was very concerned about the level of difficulty. The Senegalese, themselves, thought it was crazy to shoot in Thiaroye (suburb of Dakar). However, we did not have as many obstacles as one would have imagined. I must say that filming there gives me more energy than what one would have imagined otherwise. 

As the first African woman filmmaker to be in the running for the Palme d'Or, you are a pioneer...

Pioneer...

Yes, in spite of yourself. And you belong to a filmmaking family. There is your renowned uncle, Djibril Diop Mambéty whose film Touki Bouki is also at the heart of your documentary Thousand Suns. There is also your father, Wasis Diop, a musician who has authored famous soundtracks, including those of his brother. All this is part of a continuity that seems consistent.

Consistent, I don’t know. But it is a personal continuation that I chose to make. I am fortunate to have inherited an extremely strong and inspiring history, while at the same time feeling very free to write my own story. It is the most beautiful legacy: to continue while reinventing and remaining oneself. The best way to pay homage to the work of my uncle and my father is to continue the path in my own way, with the tools of my generation.

And to represent Senegal: the link to your African origins is quite strong. You have even said that it was the impetus of your desire to make films.

It does not mean that all my films will take place in Senegal. However, my relationship to cinema is intertwined with my Africanity.

***

Mati Diop : "C'était très important pour moi de dédier un film à cette génération fantôme". Entretien par Falila Gbadamassi

La cinéaste franco-sénégalaise Mati Diop signe Atlantique, film en compétition pour la 72e édition du Festival de Cannes. La fiction offre un point de vue original sur la funeste traversée des jeunes Sénégalais pour rejoindre les côtes européennes. Lire l'intégralité de l'article @ http://www.africine.org/?menu=art&no=14683.