Togolese Women in Cinema, Visual Media and Screen Culture

Togolese Women in Cinema, Visual Media and Screen Culture

"I have always been interested in women's discourse, because I think it is an alternative discourse.  I have always treated my themes from the perspective of women."--Anne-Laure Folly Reimann

The creation of the Lomé-based African Film Festival of Women Filmmakers (Festival Africain des Films de Femmes Cinéastes (FAFFCI)) in 2018 offered an environment for the promotion and empowerment of Togolese women in cinema on a national level, thus providing a structure for the cultural work by women filmmakers that has spanned several decades. The first edition of the festival activities included conferences, panels, consciousness raising sessions, a contest of documentary and fiction films made by all-women film crews, and a Masterclass entitled: “Mentoring women filmmakers for the advancement of the industry.” Similar to other women's film festivals throughout the continent, the festival is an essential structure for networking and building environments for women's empowerment.

Since the 1990s international lawyer-filmmaker-activist Anne-Laure Folly-Reimann has been actively involved in the organization and development of African cinema culture at the continental and international levels. Sitou Ayité, critique, producer, scriptwriter and filmmaker, wears many hats in Togolese film culture. Since 2009 founder Christelle Aquéréburu is also director of the Togolese film school Ecran, laying the groundwork for the formation of a cadre of audio-visual professionals. Since 2010, Juliette Akouvi Founou oversees the many activities of the Association Togolaise du Cinéma Numérique Ambulant (ATCNA), as president of the digital mobile cinema association. In April 2021 ATCNA launched a call for candidates for a writing residency for short films targeting young francophone women creatives-filmmakers, under the theme "The Woman in Contemporary Africa. This initiative reinforces the long-standing objective of African women stakeholders in cinema: to empower women through training and mentoring.

Author-filmmaker Gentille M. Assih's film Into the Light, about domestic violence, highlights the liberating life stories of Quebecois women of West African origin. Berlin-based German-Togolese Ines Johnson Spain focuses her camera on her personal story. In Becoming Black a girl discovers her true identity, that of a mixed race adolescent.

In addition to an interest in producing realistic stories about everyday African experiences to present to the African public, Angela Aquéréburu wants also to distribute her films more broadly in order to make them visible on the international scene. She explains in ForbesAfrica: "To make content exportable, you need a universal story, good actors, beautiful images, good music and to respect international broadcast codes.” She co-founded the Lomé-based Yobo Studios to provide original and exportable programs and bring a different perspective regarding Africa.

Jahëna Louisin, who holds a Masters in International Relations and Political Science, is a journalist reporter of the visual image for local production companies and international televisions and has lived in Togo since a child. Behind her camera, she immortalizes life stories drawing inspiration from daily life, both tender and harsh, to imagine human stories with universal appeal.

These Togolese women are among the growing cohort of filmmakers and film activist who contribute to the vibrancy of a cinema culture in the country.

Report by Beti Ellerson

Links to articles on the African Women in Cinema Blog:

Gentille M. Assih: Into the Light
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2021/04/vues-dafrique-2021-gentille-m-assih.html

La femme dans l'Afrique Moderne - CNA Cinéma Numérique Ambulant TOGO  | The Woman in Contemporary Africa
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2021/04/la-femme-dans-lafrique-moderne-cna.html

Festival Films Femmes Afrique 2020 - Jahëna Louisin : 28 jours (28 days)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/02/festival-films-femmes-afrique-2020_71.html

Ines Johnson Spain: Becoming Black
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/12/ines-johnson-spain-becoming-black.html

Festival Africain des Films de Femmes Cinéastes (FAFFCI) | African Film Festival of Women Filmmakers - 2018 (Togo)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2018/03/festival-africain-des-films-de-femmes.html

Angela Aquereburu : Producing realistic, original, universal African stories | Produire des histories africaines authentiques, originales, universelles
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2017/10/angela-aquereburu-producing-realistic.html

Christelle Aquéréburu, Directrice de l’ECRAN - Ecole de cinéma au Togo | Director of ECRAN film school in Togo
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2014/04/christelle-aquereburu-directrice-de.html

Angéla Aquereburu lance une campagne de crowdfunding sur Indiegogo pour la série "Palabres" | Angéla Aquereburu launchs a crowfunding campaign on Indiegogo for the "Palabres" series
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2014/03/angela-aquereburu-lance-une-campagne-de.html

Juliette Akouvi Founou : "The CNA Togo is in its launching phase"
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2013/05/juliette-akouvi-founou-cna-togo-is-in.html

Anne-Laure Folly: African women's voices as alternative discourse. Reflections on the film "Les Oubliées"
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2010/07/anne-laure-folly-les-oubliees.html

A Conversation with Angéla Aquereburu
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2010/05/conversation-with-angela-aquereburu.html

Christelle Aquéréburu, Directrice de l’ECRAN - Ecole de cinéma au Togo | Director of ECRAN film school in Togo

Christelle Aquéréburu, Directrice de l’ECRAN - Ecole de cinéma au Togo | Director of ECRAN film school in Togo

Source & Photo: focusinfos.net. Translation from French by Beti Ellerson

[English]

During Women’s History Month in March several activities highlighting women took place on March 8, International Women's Day. For this occasion, the journal Focus Infos put the spotlight on six exceptional women who excel in their respective fields. One of the women featured, Christelle Aquéréburu, is Director of the film school Ecran.

“While there are some who stay in their beds to continue to dream, there are those who wake up to fulfil those dreams"

Married with three children, Christelle Aquéréburu is without doubt the torchbearer of the audio-visual sector and Togolese cinema. Veteran of a multinational maritime, she abandoned this prominent post to pursue a passion that had already preoccupied her since she was a child: cinema.

Convinced that self-employment remains one of the solutions to the growing problem of unemployment, she devoted her time to creating a school for training those interested in the field of cinema and audio-visual, a budding but promising sector, which offers enormous opportunities to ambitious, talented young people.

Her school aims to train in "...audio-visual professions that at present, continue to offer to people of all ages, a real chance to succeed in a context where the labour market is becoming increasingly competitive and demanding..."

Since its inception in 2009, the school has trained more than a hundred students, all currently working in the field"...My former students have become my best partners with whom I do co-productions; this is simply fantastic and it is one of the wonders of the world of cinema!"

To date, Christelle Aquéréburu school has made more than twenty films and documentaries, including Sara, directed by the young Togolese Essi Névamé Akpandza, which was nominated in the School Films Category at FESPACO 2013. This was a first for Togolese cinema, which had never had this honour before!

Christelle is also director of the audio-visual production company African Dreams, which has produced the internationally-celebrated reality show Comme une Star | Like a Star.

She draws a lot from the everyday life around her to help her students to develop and write scripts, because she believes that "the imagination is a magical act."

When asked how she explains her success, she replied with a gracious smile: "... “While there are some who stay in their beds to continue to dream, there are those who wake up to fulfil those dreams". I...did not know that it was impossible, that is why I made it.

Comme une star! | Like a Star

10 young women of several nationalities who dream of a career in cinema and show business come together in a villa for 6 weeks during a contest. The jury is the reality television audience who vote by SMS.

See Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Comme-une-star-Saison-2/105726529461720 

[Français]

Christelle Aquéréburu, Directrice de l’ECRAN - Ecole de cinéma au Togo 

Considéré comme mois de la femme, mars voit l’organisation de plusieurs activités en faveur de la gente féminine dont le clou se déroule le 8 mars décrété comme journée internationale de la femme. A cette occasion, votre journal Focus Infos a décidé de faire sortir de l’ombre six femmes d’exception qui quotidiennement se battent dans leurs domaines respectifs. Allons à la découverte de ces femmes…

Christelle AQUÉRÉBURU : Directrice de l’Ecole de cinéma ECRAN

« Il y a ceux qui rêvent et se prélassent dans leur lit pour continuer leur rêve et il y a ceux qui se réveillent pour le réaliser »

Mariée et mère de trois enfants, Christelle Aquéréburu est incontestablement le porte-flambeau du secteur de l’audiovisuel et du cinéma togolais. Cette ancienne cadre d’une multinationale maritime, a abandonné le prestige des bureaux feutrés pour se consacrer à une passion qui la hantait déjà toute petite : le cinéma. À LIRE DANS SON INTÉGRALITÉ @ focusinfos.net 

Comme une star!

10 filles issues de plusieurs nationalités qui rêvent de faire carrière dans le cinéma et le show biz sont réunies dans une villa pendant 6 semaines pour une compétition. Le jury c'est les téléspectateurs qui votent par SMS!

Voir Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Comme-une-star-Saison-2/105726529461720

ECRAN PROMO @ YOUTUBE