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.

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Showing posts with label Dyana Gaye. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dyana Gaye. Show all posts

11 January 2022

Découvrez le cycle Tigritudes, panorama du cinéma panafricain | Discover the Tigritudes cycle, a panorama of pan-African cinema (12.1-27.2) au Forum des images - Paris

Discover the Tigritudes cycle, a panorama of pan-African cinema (12.1-27.2) at the Forum des images - Paris
 
From 12 January to 27 February, via 125 films and 40 countries the program browses through the history of pan-African cinema since 1956! Conceived by directors Dyana Gaye and Valérie Osouf, in collaboration with the Forum des Images, "Tigritudes" is nurtured by encounters between artists and intellectuals and highlights the richness of forms and the issues linked to the cinematographies of Africa, too often overlooked.
 
Découvrez le cycle Tigritudes, panorama du cinéma panafricain (12.1-27.2) au Forum des images - Paris

Du 12 janvier au 27 février, ce programme parcourt l'histoire du cinéma panafricain depuis 1956 à travers 125 films et 40 pays ! Conçu par les réalisatrices Dyana Gaye et Valérie Osouf, en collaboration avec le Forum des images, "Tigritudes" se nourrit de rencontres entre artistes et intellectuel·les et met en lumière la richesse des formes et les enjeux liés aux cinématographies d'Afrique, trop souvent méconnues.
 
UPDATE
 
Épisode 10 – Tigritudes : Madeline Anderson, Safi Faye, Leïla Kilani
 
Summary: During the Trigitudes programing at the Forum des images, the cineaste Valerie Osouf, who conceived this program with the cineaste Dyana Gaye, focus on three films by filmmakers of panAfrican cinema: Integration Report 1 de Madeline Anderson (1960), Lettre paysanne de Safi Faye (1975) et Sur la planche de Leïla Kilani (2011).

The struggles in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, the daily lives of the peasants in a small Senegalese village, the dreams of a young woman working in a shrimp factory in Tanger: three instances of personal, political, social struggles which are at the heart of this subjective anthology and panAfrican chronology which takes place until 27 February at the Forum des images à Paris.

Speakers: Valerie Osouf and Dyana Gaye

Épisode 10 – Tigritudes : Madeline Anderson, Safi Faye, Leïla Kilani
 
Résumé : À l’occasion de la programmation Tigritudes au Forum des images, la cinéaste Valérie Osouf – qui a conçu cette programmation avec la cinéaste Dyana Gaye – évoque trois films de réalisatrices du cinéma panafricain : Integration Report 1 de Madeline Anderson (1960), Lettre paysanne de Safi Faye (1975) et Sur la planche de Leïla Kilani (2011).
La lutte concrète du Mouvement des Droits Civiques aux États-Unis, le quotidien des paysans d’un petit village sénégalais, le rêve d’une ouvrière d’une usine de crevettes à Tanger : trois instantanés des luttes politiques, intimes, sociales qui sont au cœur de cette anthologie subjective et chronologique panafricaine qui se déroule jusqu’au 27 février au Forum des images à Paris.

Invité : Valérie Osouf, cinéaste et co-programmatrice, aux côtés de la cinéaste Dyana Gaye, de la programmation Tigritudes
 
Source: https://revusetcorriges.com/2022/02/02/silence-elles-tournent-tigritudes-madeline-anderson-safi-faye-leila-kilani/ 

17 November 2017

African Women in Cinema Blog - Updates | Actualités 17.11.2017 News around the Internet | Les infos autour de l’Internet

Updates | Actualités
17 – 11 – 2017

Content | Contenu:

Pauline Mvele Nambané, Samantha Biffot, Yveline Nathalie Pontier
Apolline Traoré
Dyana Gaye
Françoise Ellong
Penda Diouf
Nadia El Fani
Cheryl Dunye
Angela Aquereburu
Claire Diao, Rahmatou Keïta, Aïcha Macky

Pauline Mvele Nambané, Samantha Biffot, Yveline Nathalie Pontier
Hommage à Pauline Mvele Nambané, Samantha Biffot, Yveline Nathalie Pontier. 20-25 novembre 2017. Institutfrancais-gabon et Gabon Review

Apolline Traoré
RDV avec la réalisatrice Apolline Traoré au Ciné Burkina et au CENASA. 15 novembre 2017. Facebook Les Films Selmons.

Dyana Gaye
Dyana Gaye réalisatrice franco-sénégalaise de #Bagnolet siège dans le jury du #festival #CinéBanlieue. 16 novembre 2017. Twitter Seinesaintdenis.

Françoise Ellong
“EWUSU”, la web-série camerounaise sur la sorcellerie arrive en 2018. 15 novembre 2017. Madeinmboa.net.

Penda Diouf
Marraine de Benindocs #4 2017. Ecranbenin.

Nadia El Fani
‘‘Même pas mal’’ de Nadia El Fani : Le retour d’une guerrière. Fawz Ben Ali. 13 Nov 2017. Kapitalis.

Cheryl Dunye
The Watermelon Woman (Feat. Cheryl Dunye of Queen Sugar). 10 October 2017. Theextraordinarynegros.

VIDEO – EXTRAITS – CLIPS

Angela Aquereburu
YoBo Studios on her dramedy Hospitalite about a doctor and a traditional healer. YouTube.



Claire Diao, Rahmatou Keïta, Aïcha Macky
La chronique cinéma avec Claire Diao d"Awotele : Le Niger à l'honneur avec les films " Zin'naariya !" de Rahmatou Keïta ou "L'arbre sans fruit" d'Aicha Macky à l'occasion du festival Afrikamera 2017YouTube




LINKS | LIENS : AFRICAN WOMEN IN CINEMA BLOG

#Mêmepaspeur, Amina Abdoulaye Mamani, Amina Weira, Claudine Ndimbira, Fatou Kandé Senghor, Kis Keya, Marwa Zein, Nadège Batou, Selma Bargach, Siam Marley, Victoria Thomas, Wanuri Kahiu

Watch Films by Womxn Directors, Girls in Film in Mauritius, RECIDAK 2018 - La remise de distinctions | Presentation of Awards, Visions de femmes, Queen of Zambian TV Becky Ngom, Joburg Film Festival Women’s Event

Amma Asante, Angela Aquereburu, Apolline Traoré, Blog updates-actualites, Claire Diao, Huguette Goudjo, Josza Anjembe, Monique Mbeka Phoba, Nadjibatou Ibrahim, Priscilla Nwanah, Tiffany Haddish

Akosua Adoma Owusu, Ngozi Onwurah, Cheryl Dunye, Kagendo Murungi 

Pauline Mvele Nambané, Samantha Biffot, Yveline Nathalie Pontier, Apolline Traoré, Dyana Gaye, Françoise Ellong, Penda Diouf, Nadia El Fani, Cheryl Dunye, Angela Aquereburu, Claire Diao, Rahmatou Keïta, Aïcha Macky


Mignotae Kebede, Mouniratou Lougué, Nicole Amarteifio, Ruth Kapinga, Nikyatu Jusu, Gabourey Sidibe, Ingrid Agbo

Pauline Mvele Nambané, Samantha Biffot, Yveline Nathalie Pontier, Apolline Traoré, Dyana Gaye, Françoise Ellong, Penda Diouf, Nadia El Fani, Cheryl Dunye, Angela Aquereburu, Claire Diao, Rahmatou Keïta, Aïcha Macky

Mignotae Kebede, Mouniratou Lougué, Nicole Amarteifio, Ruth Kapinga, Nikyatu Jusu, Gabourey Sidibe, Ingrid Agbo
Tope Oshin, Lupita Nyong’o, Kaouther Ben Hania, Rungano Nyoni, Femmes en audiovisual (CNA), Arts Femmes Bamako, Aïssa Maïga

Naky Sy Savané, Adélaïde Tata Ouattara, Theresa Traoré Dahlberg

Juliet Asante, Amandine Gay, Ganiath Yaya, Khadidiatou Sow, Rosalie N’Dah

OkayAfrica: Hana Baba, Leila Day, Akosua Adoma Owusu, Bella Agossou, Comfort Arthur, Yvonne Orji

Cheryl Dunye, Yvonne Orji, Djia Mambu, Judy Kibinge, Mamounata Nikièma

Zanele Muholi, Rungano Nyoni, Mulheres negras no Audiovisual, Nike Kadri

Cheryl Dunye, Souad Houssein, Yaa Asantewa-Undp Award, Twiggy Matiwana, Jihan El Tahri, Judy Kibinge, Safi Faye, et al

Jihan El Tahri, Mis Me Binga (International Women's Film Festival-Cameroon), Zuriel Oduwole, Rama Thiaw

Ngozi Onwurah, Les Tibeb Girls de Bruktawit Tigabu, Danai Gurira, Issa Rae, Liyana, executive-produced by Thandie Newton, Claire Diao, Bruktawit Tigabu, Akosua Adoma Owusu

Janaína Oliveira: Mossane de Safi Faye, Lucie Memba Bos, Judy Kibinge, Aïssa Maïga, Kaouther ben Hania

African Women in Cinema Blog: Updates | Actualités 09-06-2017
Michelle Mboya, Jihan El-Tahri, Rungano Nyoni, Iman Kamel

Kadhy Touré, Tope Oshin, Samantha Biffot, Claire Diao, Rungano Nyoni, Kaouther Ben Hania, La Parole des femmes, Ng’endo Mukii

Awa Traoré, Rungano Nyoni, Twitter: Rihanna, Lupita, Issa, Ava, Nneka Onuorah, Amina Weira

African Female Filmmakers, Rungano Nyoni, June Givanni, Le Grand Débat: Un autre visage du cinema français : Claire Diao, Aset Malanda, Nina Melo, Josza Anjembe, Jihan El-Tahri, 

Tibeb Girls (Ethiopia), Katarina Hedren, La colère dans le vent d'Amina Weira, Ben and Ara by Nnegest Likké, Sarah Bouyain

Mahen Bonetti, Marie Philomène Nga, Women in Moroccan Cinema, Josza Anjembe, Serkadis Megabiyaw

Raja Amari, Mama Colonel (film), Theresa Traore Dahlberg, Rayhana Obermeyer, Apolline Traoré

Fatima Sissani, Amandine Gay, Fatoumata Diawara, Dada Stella, Maïmouna N’Diaye, Leyla Bouzid, Marguerite Abouet

African Film and Media -Three Women Making Films in Zimbabwe -Nollywood and Women, Stephanie Dongmo, Rwandan Women in Film, A Conversation with Tala Hadid, Afrique Plurielle TV5Monde : Alimata Salambéré, Dada Stella Kitoga, Monique Mbeka Phoba, In My Father’s Village by Tapiwa Kapuya

Stéphanie Dongmo, Nadja Harek, Oshosheni Hiveluah, Fatou Kandé Senghor, Laureates: Mashariki Film Festival Awards 2017 (Rwanda), Laureates: Zambia Film and Television Awards (ZAFTAs) 2017

Véro Tshanda Beya, Félicité (Alain Gomis) analyse, Issa Rae, Juliet Yaa Asantewaa Asante, Khady Sylla in Memoriam, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Rumbi Katedza, The Republic – a pilot series by Nicole Amarteifio

Kaouther Ben Hania, Jihan El-Tahri, Iman Kamel, Kis Keya, Judy Kibinge

02 March 2015

Women Filmmakers Week: Cascade Festival of African Films 2015 (USA)

The Cascade Festival of African Films (Portland, Oregon USA), which celebrates its 25th year, is held during the months of February and March, thus commemorating the U.S. celebration of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, respectively. The closing week of the festival features Women Filmmakers Week, which includes retrospectives, tributes and recently released short and feature film.

Filmmakers Iquo B. Essien, Frances Bodomo, Ekwa Msangi, Penda Diakité will be present for screening discussions.

Source: (Texts and Images): Cascade Festival of African Films
Poster: 2015 Festival Poster by Chouchou Lam
Artists Biographies: Link to Festival page

The 2015 lineup of films for Women Filmmakers Week:


Chika Anadu (Nigeria)
B For Boy (2013)Under the theme Tribute to Nollywood

Synopsis: A contemporary drama set in Nigeria, about one woman’s desperate need for a male child. It explores the discrimination of women in the names of culture and religion. Winner of the 2014 African Movie Academy Awards for Best Film in an African Language.



Eka Christa Assam (Cameroon)
Beleh (2013)

Synopsis: The difficulty Joffi faces in her first pregnancy is made worse by the petulant and selfish demands of her irate and uncompromising husband, Ekema. Things come to a comedic head when Ekema wakes up one morning to a world very different from the one he went to sleep in.



Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia-France)
Wooden Hand (2013)

Synopsis: Five-year-old Amira lives with her mother in a cramped apartment in Tunis. At the moment to return to the Koranic school, Amira desperated seeks a way to grab a few more hours off. She finds nothing better than to stick her hand to the arm of the chair with super glue...



Frances Bodomo (Ghana-USA)
The Afronauts (2014)

Synopsis: On 16 July 1969, America prepares to launch Apollo 11. Thousands of miles away, the Zambia Space Academy hopes to beat America to the moon. Inspired by true events.



Penda Diakité (Mali-USA)
Words From A Silence (2014)

Synopsis: a short abstract diary montage of the artist’s thoughts, feelings and experiences as a bi-cultural female of color in the U.S. and Mali, West Africa.



Roberta Durrant (South Africa)
Felix (2013)Under the theme Family Fest Matinée
13-year-old Felix dreams of becoming a saxophonist like his late father, but his mother thinks jazz is the devil's music. When Felix is awarded a scholarship for grade eight at an elitist private school, he defies his mother and turns to two aging members of his father's old band to help him prepare for the school jazz concert.



Iquo B. Essien (Nigeria, USA)
Aissa’s Story (2013)

Synopsis: Aissatou Ba is an African immigrant maid and single mother who must decide whether to move on with her life or fight when the case against the hotel guest who assaulted her is dismissed. But how can she restore her lost dignity?



Dyana Gaye (Senegal-France)
Under The Starry Sky (2013)

Synopsis: Sophie, Abdoulaye and Thierno’s three destinies cross paths and echo one another, delineating a constellation of exile. Sophie journeys from Dakar, Senegal, to join her husband Abdoulaye in Turin, Italy. Meanwhile, Abdoulaye has left for a new job opportunity in New York, hoping to stay with Sophie’s aunt. However, Sophie’s aunt and 19-year-old son Thierno are in Dakar for Thierno’s father’s funeral. With these three characters’ destinies, Under the Starry Sky takes us on a journey through the diversity of the cities the characters travel to, confronting us with the realities, hopes, and dreams of contemporary emigration.



Peres Owino (Kenya-USA)
Bound: Africans Versus African Americans (2014)

Synopsis: Bound takes us on a journey through the corridors of African and African American historical experiences as it illuminates the moments that divide and those that bind Africans and African Americans, culminating with ideas that promote reconciliation without assuming it is a quick fix.



Akosua Adoma Owusu (Ghana-USA)
Kwaku Ananse (2013)

Synopsis: The West African fable of Kwaku Ananse, a spider/man trickster who teaches that there are two sides to everything and everyone, is combined with the story of a young outsider named Nyan Kronhwea attending her estranged father’s funeral. Nyan’s father led two separate lives with two wives and two families, one in Ghana, one in the United States. Overwhelmed by the funeral, Nyan retreats to the spirit world in search for her father.



Ekwa Msangi (Kenya-USA)
Soko Sonko / The Market King (2014)

Synopsis: When her mom gets sick, Kibibi’s dad must take her to the market to get her hair braided before school begins. Soko Sonko is a hilarious, fish-out-of-water roller coaster of a journey about a well-intentioned dad who goes where no man has gone before… because only women have been there!



Moufida Tlatli (Tunisia)
The Silences of the Palace (1994)Under the theme Retrospective

Alia, a singer in post-colonial Tunisia, looks back at her childhood in the palace of the Beys, the local rulers. Her mother was a servant in the palace that was a virtual prison for the women destined to be “in service.” Alia relives how her mother, the brave and beautiful Khedija, fought in relentless silence to protect and save her from the destiny that her mother had had to suffer.


Links from the African Women in Cinema Blog


07 February 2015

FESPACO 2015 - Dyana Gaye: “Des étoiles” | “Under the Starry Sky”

Fespaco 2015 - Feature film in competition | Long métrage en compétition
 
Des étoiles | Under the Starry Sky (2013)
Dyana Gaye (Senegal)
PRIX CEDEAO DE LA MEILLEURE RÉALISATRICE AFRICAINE | ECOWAS BEST WOMAN DIRECTOR AWARD

The filmmaker | La réalisatrice

[English]
Born in Paris in 1975, Dyana Gaye studied film at the University of Paris 8. In 1999, she won the Louis Lumière - Villa Medicis Hors les murs scholarship for her first film, Une femme pour Souleymane, “A wife for Souleymane”, which she directed the following year. In 2004, she directed J’ai deux amours,  the musical sequence scheme for the project "Paris la métisse." Her film Deweneti completed in 2006, received a wide national and international distribution, winning the Jury Prize at the International Short Film Festival in Clermont-Ferrand in 2007 and was one of five films nominated for best short film for a César in 2008. In 2009, she directed Un transport en commun | St. Louis Blues presented at the Locarno Film Festival and, among other festivals, selected at Sundance and Toronto. The film was nominated for the 2011 César for best short film. In 2013, she received an award from the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation at the Sarajevo Film Festival. Under the Starry Sky is her first feature film.

[Français]
Née à Paris en 1975, Dyana Gaye étudie le cinéma à l’Université Paris 8. En 1999, elle est lauréate de la bourse Louis Lumière - Villa Médicis Hors les murs pour son premier film, Une femme pour Souleymane, qu’elle réalise l’année suivante. En 2004, elle réalise J’ai deux amours, plan séquence musical, pour le projet « Paris la métisse ». Son film Deweneti réalisé en 2006 connaît une très large diffusion nationale et internationale, reçoit le prix du jury au festival international du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand en 2007 et fait partie des cinq films nommés aux César 2008 du meilleur court métrage. En 2009, elle réalise Un transport en commun, comédie musicale présentée au festival de Locarno et sélectionnée entre autres aux festivals de Sundance et de Toronto. Ce film est nommé aux César 2011 du meilleur court métrage. En 2013, elle reçoit le prix de la fondation Katrin Cartlidge lors du festival du film de Sarajevo. Des étoiles est son premier long métrage.

Synopsis

[English]
Between New York, Dakar and Turin, the fate of Sophie, Abdoulaye and Thierno come together and intertwine. There are the initial disappointments during pivotal encounters; their journey will lead them to choose freedom.

"The idea is not to construct a Senegalese or African identity but rather to capture the movement, with displacement and circulation as “principe d’invention”…It is difficult in large cities today to imagine that one is simply composed of a single culture, there is a multitude of interactions generated by successive waves of migration, and creating beyond these intermixtures, forms of contamination. The Senegalese diaspora, located about everywhere in the world, is very organized, with a very strong attachment to their country of origin. North America represents the absolute possibility and fantasyland for the youth of Africa. France and Europe are considered only as a stage. The counterpoint that Thierno represents seemed necessary to me; it accomplishes the opposite trajectory, whereas the African-American culture - from rap to Blaxploitation – is largely infused in Senegalese culture. There is an African-American fantasy of the African continent, including Senegal and Goree Island where ships loaded with slaves left for America."

[Français]
Entre New York, Dakar et Turin, les destins de Sophie, Abdoulaye et Thierno se croisent et s’entremêlent. Des premières désillusions aux rencontres décisives, leur voyage les mènera à faire le choix de la liberté.

"L’idée n’est pas de fixer une identité africaine ou sénégalaise mais plutôt d’en saisir le mouvement, avec ici le déplacement et la circulation comme principe d’invention. Tout cela est un peu à l’image de ce que je suis : je ne peux pas me résoudre à dire que je ne suis que sénégalaise ou que française ; je suis la rencontre des deux, avec un peu d’Italie aussi ! Il est difficile dans les grandes villes aujourd’hui de concevoir que l’on est simplement constitué d’une seule culture, il y a une multitude d’interactions créées par les mouvements migratoires successifs, créant, au-delà des métissages, des formes de contamination. La diaspora sénégalaise est implantée un peu partout dans le monde, très organisée, avec une très forte appartenance à leur pays d’origine. L’Amérique du Nord représente le véritable horizon et la terre de fantasme de la jeunesse du continent africain. La France et l’Europe ne sont envisagées que comme une étape. Le contrepoint représenté par Thierno me semblait indispensable, ce dernier accomplit le trajet inverse, tandis que la culture afro-américaine – du rap à la Blaxploitation – a largement infusé dans la culture sénégalaise. Il y a un fantasme des afroaméricains pour le continent africain, notamment le Sénégal et l’île de Gorée d’où partaient les bateaux chargés d’esclaves pour l’Amérique."

Source: Dossier de presse | Press kit (par/de Arnaud Hée): http://www.hautetcourt.com/film/fiche/208/des-etoiles 


01 May 2012

Dyana Gaye: The Cinéfondation Atelier, Cannes 2012


Des étoiles, directed by Dyana Gaye (France-Senegal), is among the fifteen films selected for the Cinéfoundation Atelier (a workshop to assist the achievability of the film project).

In the Cinéfoundation Project Catalogue, Gilles Jacob, President of the Festival de Cannes and the Cinéfondation, details the goals and objectives of the Atelier:

By creating L’Atelier in 2005, our first objective was to select film projects varied in their themes, their geographical distribution and creative invention. The second was to ensure that these projects, each supported by a producer who has already gathered part of the funding, could be made quickly. The third was to limit the selection to 15 projects to ensure greater exposure for them and get the best results for everyone.
For this eighth edition 15 unique voices from 14 countries can be heard, from the newly-discovered director to the well-known filmmaker. The projects, carried along by independent producers, reflect their battle for the defense and illustration of a demanding and innovative cinema.

Biography of Dyana Gaye

Dyana Gaye was born in Paris in 1975. She majored in Film Studies at Paris 8 University. In 1999, she won the Louis Lumière-Villa Médicis grant for her script Une femme pour Souleymane, that she directed the following year. In 2004, she directed a musical one-shot-sequence film, J’ai deux amours for the project “Paris la métisse” and was a finalist for the Rolex Mentor and Protége Arts Initiative. In 2006, her film Deweneti received numerous distinctions all over the world and was nominated at the Césars 2008 for Best Short Film. In 2009, she directed the musical Un transport en commun, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and was selected in numerous festivals, such as, Sundance and TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). She received for this film a second nomination at the Césars 2011 for Best Short Film. She is currently working on a stage adaptation of Un transport en commun for the season 2013-2014 of the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

The presentation of the project Des étoiles begins with a citation from the poem Sand and Foam (1926) by Khalil Gibran:

My house tells me, “Do not leave me, your past dwells here.” 
The road tells me, “Come, follow me, I am your future.” 
And I tell them, “I have no past, nor have I a future. 
If I stay here, there is a going in my staying; 
and if I go there is a staying in my going. 
Only love and death will change all things.”

Synopsis

Over one winter, through the cities of Dakar, Torino and New York, we follow the exiled paths of several interconnected characters. For her husband’s funeral, New Yorker Mame Amy returns to Dakar with her 19-year-old son Thierno, who takes his first ever steps on African soil. Sophie, 24-years-old, leaves Dakar for Torino to join her husband Abdoulaye. He is missing. Abdoulaye has just arrived in New York with his cousin through an organisation of clandestine migrants. As the days go by, their destinies begin to echo one another, through the diversity of the cities they are crossing, somehow all united under the same starry sky. 

Filmmaker’s intentions 

Des étoiles is a testimony on Senegal today as seen from its Diaspora’s point of view. As many of their countrymen, Sophie, Mame Amy, Thierno, and Abdoulaye are torn between Africa and the West, the past and the future, dream and reality, one’s ancient culture and their longing for freedom. The purpose of the film is not to judge the good and the bad in migration, but to rather focus on destinies often reduced to nothing more than footnotes and statistics. These destinies, though distinct, echo one another, the same way as a constellation, which is nothing more than a design shaped by several stars, are thousands of miles away from one another. This film is for me the opportunity to pay tribute to what we all are: just passing by.

(Photo of Dyana Gaye and text from the Project Catalogue of the Cinéfoundation)

Dyana Gaye: L’Atelier de la Cinéfondation, Cannes 2012


Des étoiles, réalisé par Dyana Gaye (France-Senegal) est parmi les quinze films sélectionnés à L'Atelier de la Cinéfondation (atelier de projets, pour faciliter la faisabilité d'un projet de film).

Dans le Livre des Projets de Cinéfoundation, Gilles Jacob, Président du Festival de Cannes et de la Cinéfondation, détaille les buts et objectifs de l’Atelier :

En créant L’Atelier en 2005, notre premier objectif était de sélectionner des projets de films très variés par leurs thèmes, leur distribution géographique et leur invention créative. Le second était de s’assurer que ces projets, soutenus chacun par un producteur ayant déjà réuni une partie du financement, pourraient être réalisés rapidement. Le troisième était de limiter la sélection à 15 projets pour assurer plus d’impact à ceux-ci et obtenir le meilleur résultat pour chacun.

Pour cette huitième édition s’expriment ainsi 15 voix singulières originaires de 14 pays, du réalisateur juste remarqué au cinéaste reconnu. Les projets, portés par des producteurs indépendants, traduisent le combat qu’ils mènent pour la défense et l’illustration d’un cinéma exigeant et novateur.

Biographie de Dyana Gaye

Née à Paris en 1975, Dyana Gaye étudie le cinéma à l’université Paris 8 où elle obtient une Maîtrise d’études cinématographiques. En 1999, elle est lauréate de la bourse Louis Lumière-Villa Médicis hors les murs pour son premier film Une femme pour Souleymane, qu’elle réalise l’année suivante. En 2004, elle réalise J’ai deux amours pour le projet « Paris la métisse » et est finaliste du programme Rolex de mentorat artistique. Son film Deweneti réalisé en 2006 connaît une très large diffusion nationale et internationale, reçoit le prix du jury au Festival international du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand en 2007 et est nominé au César 2008 du meilleur court métrage. Pour Un transport en commun, une comédie musicale qu’elle réalise en 2009, présentée en première mondiale au Festival de Locarno, sélectionnée à Sundance et à Toronto, Dyana est de nouveau nominée au César du meilleur court métrage. Elle travaille actuellement à son adaptation pour la saison 2013/2014 du Théâtre du Châtelet à Paris.

La présentation du projet Des étoiles commence avec une citation du poème, Le sable et l’écume (1926) de Khalil Gibran :

Ma maison me dit :« Ne me quitte pas, ton passé est ici. » 
La route me dit : « viens suis-moi, je suis ton avenir. » 
et je leur dis : « je n’ai ni passé ni avenir. 
dans sa maison du passé, le moi aspire à l’avenir. 
dans son chemin vers l’avenir, le moi porte avec lui son passé. 
seuls l’amour et la mort peuvent tout changer. »

Synopsis

Le temps d’une saison (un hiver), dans trois villes : Dakar, Turin et New-York, nous partageons les chemins d’exils de différents personnages. À l’occasion de l’enterrement de son mari, Mame Amy la new-yorkaise, revient à Dakar accompagné de son fils Thierno, 19 ans, dont c’est le premier voyage en Afrique. Sophie, 24 ans, quitte Dakar pour rejoindre son mari Abdoulaye à Turin. Il est introuvable. Abdoulaye arrive à New-York avec son cousin par l’intermédiaire d’un réseau de passeurs. À mesure que les jours passent, des résonnances se créent entre les parcours de ces personnages, dans la diversité des villes qu’ils traversent, pourtant toutes unies sous un même ciel étoilé.

Intention de la réalisatrice

Des étoiles parle du Sénégal aujourd’hui mais du point de vue de sa diaspora. Comme beaucoup de leurs compatriotes, Sophie, Mame Amy, Thierno, Abdoulaye et les autres sont tiraillés entre Afrique et Occident, passé et avenir, rêve et réalité, culture ancestrale et désir d’émancipation individuelle. Le propos du film n’est pas de juger des avantages ou des contraintes de l’émigration, mais d’être au plus près de ces destins, qui la plupart du temps ne sont réduits qu’à des statistiques. Car ces destins apparemment distincts, résonnent entre eux, à la manière d’une constellation, qui n’est autre que le dessin formé par plusieurs étoiles, qui se répondent à des milliers de kilomètres les unes des autres. Ce film est pour moi l’occasion d’honorer ce qu’au fond nous sommes tous : des gens de passage.

(Image de Dyana Gaye et textes cités proviennent du Livre des projets de l’Atelier de la Cinéfoundation)

24 February 2011

Dyana Gaye: Un transport en commun/St. Louis Blues

FESPACO 2011 WATCH: Official Competition: Short Fiction Film

Dyana Gaye studied film at the Université Paris 8 de St. Denis. Laureate of the Louis Lumière-Villa Médicis Hors les murs Scholarship, she made her first film Une femme pour Souleymane, receiving the attention of several festivals, followed by Deweneti which was distributed widely and among the many honors, was nominated for the 2008 Césars Award. She presented the musical comedy Transport en commun at the World Festival of Black Arts, 10-31 December 2010. 

Interview with Dyana Gaye by Fatou K. Sene for Wal Fadjri translated from French to English by Beti Ellerson

Wal Fadjri: Why a musical comedy film?

Dyana Gaye: This is the genre that gave me the desire to make films. The musical comedy film genre is very distinctive, very ancient. I took the opportunity to initiate this type of film in Senegal, to bring together different ideas.

Where did you get your inspiration to do a musical comedy?

From the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, of the 1930s. I grew up on classic Hollywood musicals—the film, The Band Wagon by Vincente Minnelli, and so on. I also like the films of my generation, the 1980 productions such as the Blues Brothers. When I started watching movies, these are what attracted me right away, musicals also, because I studied dance and music. The musical comedy is a way for me to combine all of my ideas, whether it’s dance or music, cinema allows me to bring it all together.

The performers in the film were they musicians or actors?

All the voices in the film are those of the actors. I give a pat on the back to all of them, who for the most part are not professional actors, singers or dancers. It was a genuine learning experience. It was a very difficult project given the means we had to work with, but it was the willpower and energy of each person that made it happen. The musical comedy is rather demanding. We shot the film in the middle of the Grand Magal of Touba. The shoot was harsh and complicated but with lots of fond memories.

It is not a common genre in Africa, how were you able to join all the songs together?

We rehearsed for three weeks before the shoot. The music was already recorded in Paris with a large string orchestra, cosmic orchestra and a jazz big band. I brought the recordings to Senegal and the actors mimicked the music.

What was your inspiration for the script?

At the beginning, I did not think necessarily of a musical. Rather, what I was interested in telling was a story about a trip in the bush taxi that I often took to go to Saint Louis or to Ziguinchor. When I traveled in a bush taxi I often took notes in my tiny journal about the people that I met, about the situations that I encountered. From these notes I wrote the script, though I realized that in these cars people sitting next to each other, could not necessarily look at one another. I had to recreate these scenes by adding sound and voice. One thing led to another, eventually becoming a musical meeting space. 

When did you start thinking about the idea for the film?

Some time ago during the trips I made since I was very young. I started going to Senegal at the age of five years old with my parents. I have always traveled in bush taxis. It is the accumulation of these different memories that is the basis for the story. It is also a reflection on the possible encounters while using public transportation, not only in Senegal. I have a journal of my trips by metro and bus in Paris. I am very interested in the situations where people who do not know each other nor speak to each other, have something in common—the same route. Sometimes you speak to the person next to you; sometimes you go the entire trip in silence. The idea was to bring about a situation where the passengers come together, allowing them to talk about themselves at a certain moment and that is why I chose singing.

Did you deliberately choose to reveal slices of the lives of your characters?

This is the humdrum of life. That’s how it is when you take public transportation; each comes with her life, his past, the direction she is taking, his future. It is with the contact of others that our lives evolve, that we move ahead. For me it also symbolizes the journey. I wanted the film to look towards the future, which is why there are a lot of young people, except for the driver and the hair salon owner. It is to show that all of these people have aspirations. It is also a way of celebrating the Senegalese youth who have a very fighting spirit. I wanted to underscore that in the film, that they are taking charge of their own destiny. These are emancipative voyages, rites of passage. For instance, the character Malick will emigrate to Italy, etc. These are slices of life and also a way to see and hear the everyday experiences of the Senegalese no matter their age or circumstance.

What are your present projects?

I am working on a feature film that deals with the problem of immigration, because I am interested in these rather delicate topics. This particular one is from a woman’s perspective. Those who come back to their country or who leave it, what are they taking with them, what are they bringing back? I will pose these questions about identity, about memory.

Image credit ©SNES

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