Pauline Mvele Nambané, founding director of the Festival International "Cinéma & Liberté" Libreville, Gabon

Pauline Mvele Nambané, founding director of

the Festival International "Cinéma & Liberté"

Drawing from several sources, following is the vision of the Festival International "Cinéma & Liberté" and a portrait of founding director of the Festival International Cinéma & Liberté, Pauline Mvele Nambané. Translation from French by Beti Ellerson

Sources: Marie Dorothee (gabonactu); Steven Mpono (7joursinfo-com) and video conversation with Pauline Mvele Nambané by Urban FM 104.5 La Station Urbaine and image from its YouTube channel.

A culmination of years of dreams and fine-tuning of ideas, the International Cinema and Freedom Festival of Libreville finally comes to fruition. The activities were detailed on Friday the 4th of June 2024 during a press conference which was held at the French Cultural Center in the presence of an array of invited guests.

The 1st edition of the International Cinema and Freedom Festival of Libreville in Gabon will take place from June 24 to 29. Film screenings followed by Q&A, will be held each evening from 18h30 free of charge at the Baie des Rois. Fittingly, Laurence Ndong, the Gabonese Minister of Communication and Media, is the patron of this 1st edition.

During her inaugural address Pauline Mvele Nambané, founding director of the festival, whose vision of the festival is to create a space for an intergenerational exchange, presented the objectives of the film event. She emphasized that the festival, which was the outcome of a collaboration between the Association Gabon Ciné Doc and Clybe Nambané Production, aims to promote, education through images, human rights and freedom of expression. These objectives will be achieved through film screenings, training workshops and other cultural activities. In addition, an international conference on the theme “cinema and citizenship” will be held.

In addition, the festival aims to promote African film heritage. Pauline Mvele Nambané noted that the 1st edition will celebrate and pay homage to many of the great filmmakers of African and Gabonese cinema such as: Charles Mensah, Philippe Maury and Pierre Marie Ndong, as well as Henry Joseph Koumba Bididi, Imunga Ivanga and Prince De Capistran.

Translation from French of the video interview by Urban FM 104.5 La Station Urbaine
(L’interview YouTube originale en français, ci-après)  

The emergence of the Festival International "Cinéma & Liberté"

The festival has a particular interest in films on human rights, freedom of the press and best practices of democratic governance. The goal is to educate, to inform people about freedoms and rights. We are convinced that cinema is a powerful tool for educating, awareness building and a means to change behavior. Through this festival we want to contribute to educating the Gabonese population.


Pauline Mvele, director of the Festival International "Cinéma & Liberté"

I am a filmmaker and throughout the years I have made several documentaries that focus on social themes. I created an association with friends and for several years we toured the schools to do film screenings. So this festival presents a bit of a culmination of everything we have done; and in particular, of my filmography, of my commitment towards these themes.
 

Why the focus on the protection of liberties?

Because I believe that every human being has a mission and we are not here by chance. As a filmmaker I cannot just stand by. When you look at my filmography you will notice that I decided not to remain silent and inattentive regarding certain situations that I observe in my society. So I give voice to these people so that the situations that they live are known and that another perspective can be given.


Violence against women, giving testimony

I received a lot of testimonies when preparing to make the films. With the film, Mivova Yato, which is a documentary about gender-based violence, I collaborated with an association. I received a lot of testimonies but at the time of filming many withdrew, after having agreed, at the moment of the filming they “remove their body,” as we call it. But I do understand perfectly. It’s not easy. Sometimes when one experiences a situation and talks about it with two other people it's okay, but to do so in front of a camera, to say it to the whole world. I really do admire all the people in my films who had the courage to testify, with their faces uncovered. Personally I am not sure if I had experienced certain situations that I would have dared to talk about it. But it is also the role of the filmmaker to provide the environment that instills a sense of confidence and trust with the interlocutors. I do feel that I create an environment where people feel comfortable to confide in me.


What is your method for creating this trust?

I don't know if I would say that I have a method but I think it is because I really like people, I know how to listen to people, I know how to look at them and I am sentient of their situation. To give an anecdote of a great filmmaker, who said that one should film the people one loves and in so doing, inevitably something comes out positive for you.


Accroche-toi, the first documentary film

It was my first documentary, which I continue to hold very dear. However, when I look at it with hindsight I say to myself that I could have done better, but it was not about the technology at the time. No, that has nothing to do with it. I believe that’s often the big mistake people make. To say, “Oh yes I have the most efficient camera so I could make a good film.” It’s not true. Someone can make a good film with a cell phone. So it is one’s cinematic practice that determines the results. I was trained on the job and I had my background as a journalist as well. So yes, there is cinema there, but there is also a lot of reportage in the film. I think today, now 10 years later, I would have made this film differently, especially as the characters were really strong.


Perhaps a remake?

Unfortunately, no. When I watch the film now I am touched, because Libreville is no longer like that… I am taking advantage of your platform to talked about what happened. The three women who you see there, in the film, two of them died. That makes it even more important to talk about the people who are living with HIV, the situation has regressed a great deal in Gabon. Today we need to talk about the fight against AIDS. In Gabon there is no longer awareness, no one is taking charge of the problem. It seems that HIV is touching a progressively younger population, the 18-30 year-old population which are carriers of the disease and it's very serious because it is an illness which is still incurable. There is still no definitive cure so there is this film and it's important that it exists. And it's also an opportunity to pay tribute to these people who agreed to testify openly. Today there are those who are no longer with us, but they continue to live, one could say, because of this film.


In 2014, you made Sans famille, a documentary that received the award for best documentary at the International festival of cinema and audiovisual of Burundi. How did you established contact with the actual and former prisoners or certain prisoners?

Actually with most of my film projects, the first thing that I do is to familiarize myself on the subject, I start collecting documents, I read a lot of books, watch other films and then I talk about it to a few trusted people. I tell them that I am working on a project and ask them if they are also familiar with the subject, I meet with associations that support the cause to see  if perhaps they have leads.


Films focusing on Gabon

All of my films take place in Gabon and these films that I have made actually give me another face of humanity…they allow me to be even more sensitive and give me the force to say that I am on the right path and that I must continue.


Sans famille, did you want to highlight prisoners’ rights

Yes. The central prison of Libreville was built during colonialism, designed for an occupancy rate of 300. At the time that I made the film there were more than 5,000 people. That’s not normal. Because someone made a mistake, they should not have to live in inhuman conditions. And the prison system should assist those who are there so that when they are released they can restart their lives. But nothing is done. I know of initiatives in other countries that are commendable. Every morning prisoners were taken out in order to do farming, the prisoners ate what they cultivated, they ate healthy food. The prison sold the products and saved the earnings and when the prisoners were released they benefited as well. There are initiatives such as these. But when people are locked in their cells 24/24 hours, year after year and nothing is done. When a young person is locked away for six months because they stole something, when they are released they become assassins. They have hardened in general. They become hardened having been around other notorious prisoners, there is a mixture of people of varying crimes and sentences. So yes, it is about the struggle for prisoner rights.


And this first edition of the Festival International "Cinéma & Liberté"

The festival is free to all. The aim of the festival is to have cinema meet the public. In addition to film screenings there will be training workshops. There will be roundtables, an international conferences. There will be five Masterclasses (see details below).
 
There are two other people who come from Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire. In any case we expect big names in African cinema. I would like to thank the French Institute who agreed to support us on this first edition as well as others.

Marie Dorothée of gabonactu gave the following details of the Masterclasses:

“Writing, directing and producing the documentary” led by Natyvel Pontalier, Gabonese director and Laurent Bitty, Ivorian director-producer and Kalid Zairi, director/producer from Morocco.

“Actorat” and “How to succeed in a good production” will be led by Rasmané Ouedraogo, one of the main actors of the series “Bienvenue à Kikidéni”, which is currently broadcast on Canal +.

“From idea to realization and production of a series” by Aminata Diallo Glez, director of successful series: 3 hommes 1village, 3 femmes 1 village, Super flics and Bienvenue à Kikideni.

“The management of cultural projects” by Abdoulaye Diallo and Alpha Bah, both festival directors.

“The structure of the scenario” by Imunga Ivanga. This master class will lead to the production of a film which will be screened during the next edition.

 

Pauline Mvélé Nambane: Mivova Y’Ato (Words of Women) Combating Violence Against Women

Pauline Mvélé Nambane
Mivova Y’Ato (Words of Women)
Combating Violence Against Women

Mivova Y’Ato, which means, words of women, was produced in 2022 by the Ebando Nature and Culture Association, whose aim is to combat violence against women, in collaboration with the Gabonese filmmaker Pauline Mvélé, who is also president of the Association. The film evokes a serious issue that is too often taboo in our societies.

Synopsis

In Libreville, four women, victims of rape and sexual abuse, decide to testify in order to lift the veil on the subject, so that their voices are heard and to serve as an example of resilience. 

Since its production in 2022, the film continues its cinematic journey, selected in festivals in Gabon, DRC, CAR, Benin and Rwanda:

• the "festival du film allons au cinéma" which took place in Libreville from April 2 to 6, 2023, receiving the Amazon prize;

• the Kinshasa "festival cinéma au féminin" (September 17 to 22, 2023);

• the international festival “Bangui fait son cinéma” (November 18 to 25, 2023), receiving the Special Mention from the jury;

• the “Cotonou International Women’s Film Festival” which will take place from February 20 to 24, 2024;

• the “Urusaro international Women Film Festival” in Kigali which will take place from June 1 to 7, 2024.

French Embassy of Gabon and São Tomé-et-Príncipe Facebook Page
Published December 5, 2023. 

Nadine Otsobogo: Tout est lié | It’s all connected - Gabon - Projection débat Ecologie | Screening - Q&A on the Ecology

Nadine Otsobogo

Tout est lié | It’s all connected

Gabon

Projection débat Ecologie

Screening - Q&A on the Ecology

Institut français du Gabon

29 September 2023

http://www.djobusyproductions.com/film_toutestlie.html

Nadine Otsobogo

Tout est lié - It’s all connected

Gabon - 2021 - 24min23

Une histoire pour sensibiliser le jeune public à la complexité de notre écosystème terrestre et donner envie d’agir en stimulant l’inventivité et la collaboration.

***

A story to raise awareness among young audiences of the complexity of our terrestrial ecosystem and to inspire action by encouraging inventiveness and collaboration.

Synopsis

Puna, 10 ans venu passer des vacances chez son oncle et sa tante installés dans un village en bordure de mer découvre une petite tortue marine et se prend d’affection pour elle, mais c’est la tortue du mariage. Pendant que le Chef partage avec les hommes, un courrier reçu du sous-préfet, les alertant de l’érosion côtière qui menace la communauté, Puna se pose des questions sur l’avenir de la tortue.

L'histoire se déroule en parallèle d'un mariage traditionnel, offrant au spectateur un aperçu de la vie quotidienne d'un village côtier contemporain.

Après la projection, Nadine Otsobogo, répondra aux questions  accompagnée de plusieurs experts en lien avec les différentes  thématiques écologiques et environnementales misent en avant.

La communauté Benga prendra part au débat pour apporter sa vision concrète et ancrée dans la réalité des civilisations côtières.

***

Puna, 10 years old, goes to spend her vacation with her uncle and aunt in a village by the sea. She discovers a small sea turtle and becomes attached to it, but it is the turtle from the wedding.

While the Chief shares with the men a letter received from the sub-prefect, alerting them of the coastal erosion that threatens the community, Puna wonders about the future of the turtle. Along with her friends she attempts to save a marine turtle. The story unfolds during a traditional marriage allowing the spectator a glimpse of the daily life of a contemporary costal village.

After the screening, Nadine Otsobogo will respond to questions, accompanied by several specialists related to the themes about the ecology and the environment.

The Benga community will take part in the debate in order to bring its vision, specific and anchored in the reality of coastal societies.

Also see:

(Re)Discover Nadine Otsobogo

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2011/05/la-parole-nadine-otsobogo.html

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... 

1ère édition du festival Gabonais de cinéma 2022. Table ronde : Le Cinéma Gabonais vu par les Femmes | Gabonese cinema as viewed by women

1ère édition du festival Gabonais de cinéma (FEGACI)

Table ronde : Le Cinéma Gabonais vu par les Femmes |

 Gabonese cinema as viewed by women

Du 16 au 19 février 2022, Institut français du Gabon accueille la première édition du FEGACI, Festival Gabonais du Cinéma. Projections, débats, tables rondes et ateliers pratiques seront au rendez-vous, afin de permettre à chacun de se familiariser avec le 7ème art.

The first edition of FEGACI The Festival of Gabonese Cinema will be held at the Institut français from 16 to 19 February 2022. Screenings, discussions, roundtables and workshops are part of the activities.

17 fèvrier | February - Table ronde | Roundtable: Le Cinéma Gabonais vu par les Femmes | Gabonese cinema as viewed by women
 

Pauline Mvele (modératrice | moderator)
Marlène Alene (réalisatrice | director)
Aïsha Yamav (actrice | actress)
Jeanneton Aguero Gondjout (monteuse | editor)
Arlette Gombomoye (productrice | producer)
Sarah Dolatabadi (Réalisatrice / Artiste plasticienne)

Le panel sera suivi de la projection du court métrage le Tchatcheur de Pauline Mvele

The panel will be followed by the screening of the short "le Tchatcheur" by Pauline Mvele


 

Recent films. Matamba Kombila - influenceu.ses.rs

Matamba Kombila

influenceu.ses.rs
Gabon
28min - visual essay doc | essai visuel doc - 2021

 

Description
A visual essay on African influencers…An opportunity initiate a conversation on an important subject, particularly for the youth [of the] continent, who spend a lot of time on screens, which have become the source of all knowledge and information.

Un essai visuel sur les influenceuses et influenceurs africains…L'occasion d'ouvrir une conversation sur un sujet important, particulièrement pour la jeunesse [du] continent, qui passe beaucoup de temps sur des écrans qui sont devenus la source de tous savoirs et informations--Matamba Kombila

 

 

Bio
See link to interview on the African Women in Cinema Blog
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/07/matamba-kombila-mundele-n-blanche.html

Winnele Veyret: Yamb - FESPACO 2021

FESPACO 2021
Short fiction in competition
Winnele Veyret
Yamb
Gabon
24min - Fiction - 2019

 

Synopsis
After receiving a telephone message in an African language, 50-year-old Diane solicits a prostitution service for young Gabonese women, for a special occasion...

Suite à un message téléphonique en dialecte africain, Diane, 50 ans, va acheter les services d’une jeune prostituée gabonaise pour une grande occasion…

Un mot de la réalisatrice | Notes from the filmmaker
I have a desire to explore the flip side of so-called "successful" immigration. How does one manage to rebuild oneself, after making the choice of leaving everything, one's country, one's culture… What are the costs? A family that we support for years, and that we watch die via telephone, without ever being able to express to them, one last time, that we love them and that we miss them.

J’ai envie de m’interroger sur le revers d’une immigration, dite « réussie ». Comment parvenir à se reconstruire, lorsque l’on a fait le choix de tout quitter, son pays, sa culture… Qu’est-ce que cela nous coûte ? Une famille que l’on fait vivre pendant des années, et que l’on regarde mourir à travers un combiné téléphonique, sans jamais pouvoir exprimer à ceux qui la composent, une dernière fois, qu’on les aime et qu’ils nous manquent.

Bio
Winnele Veyret studied Humanities in Toulouse after which she obtained a degree in cinema in Bordeaux.

Winnele Veyret a suivi des études de lettres en CPGE à Toulouse puis de cinéma à Bordeaux.

Recent films. Samantha Biffot: Mami Wata - Série (2021)

Update: FESPACO 2021

Competition Série-Télé

Second prize for best TV series | 2ème prix de la meilleure série TV

Samantha Biffot

Mami Wata

Série (France, Gabon)
Princesse M productions (Gabon)
8x52 minutes

Synopsis
Oliwina, une jeune journaliste, retourne dans sa ville natale d’Agouwé au Gabon — qu’elle a quittée pendant quinze ans en raison d’un événement traumatisant — pour enquêter sur la disparition de son jeune frère. À son arrivée, les corps de cinq enfants non identifiés sont retrouvés dans une mangrove voisine. Dans cette petite ville entourée d’océan et de mangroves, le nom de Mami Wata est sur toutes les lèvres.

Oliwina, a young journalist returns to her native village of Agouwé in Gabon to investigate the disappearance of her younger brother. She had left the village fifteen years before because of a traumatic event. Upon her arrival, the bodies of five unidentified children are found in a nearby mangrove swamp. In this little village surrounded by ocean and mangroves, Mami Wata's name is on everyone's lips.


Bio
Réalisatrice et scénariste franco-gabonaise, Samantha Biffot a grandi entre l’Asie et l’Afrique, où elle a été confrontée très tôt aux mélanges des cultures, thèmatique que l’on retrouve dans son 1er long métrage documentaire L’africain qui voulait voler (2016), sélectionné dans de nombreux festivals et nommé aux Trophées Francophones 2016.

Diplômée de l’ESRA Paris, elle monte en 2010 avec Pierre-Adrien Ceccaldi sa société de production Princesse M Productions au Gabon. En 2013, elle remporte le prix de la meilleure série au FESPACO pour L'Oeil de la Cité, co-produit avec l'Institut Gabonais de l’Image et du Son. Elle co-écrit et réalise depuis 2016 l’adaptation africaine de la série à succès Parents Mode d’Emploi diffusée sur TV5.

Franco-Gabonese filmmaker and screenwriter, Samantha Biffot grew up between Asia and Africa, where she experienced the mixtures of cultures very early on, a theme that can be found in her first feature documentary The African who Wanted to Fly (2016), selected in numerous festivals and nominated for the Trophées Francophones in 2016.

A graduate of ESRA in Paris, she created her production company Princesse M Productions in Gabon with Pierre-Adrien Ceccaldi in 2010. She won the award for best series at FESPACO in 2013 for L'Oeil de la Cité, co-produced with the Gabonese Institute for Image and Sound. Since 2016, she has co-written and directed the African adaptation of the successful Parents Mode d´Emploi series broadcast on TV5.

Samantha Biffot, créatrice de la série Mami Wata - Canneseries
Conversation modérée/moderated par/by Fabienne Silvestre (in French)

 

Gabonese Women in Cinema, Visual Media and Screen Culture

Gabonese Women in  Cinema, Visual Media and Screen Culture

Gabonese cinema history dates to the beginnings of filmmaking on the continent, especially sub-Saharan Africa in the 1960s. While the number of Gabonese women in cinema is small, they have had some visibility since the start of the 1980s with the emergence of Rose Elise Mengue-Bekale, though waning in the 1990s. Since the 2000s their presence has been steadily on the increase with official selections and award winning films at international festivals, notably by Samantha Biffot, whose works include, L'oeil de la cité  | The Eye of the Town (2012) one of her popular TV series ; Retour aux sources (2013) and The African Who Wanted to Fly (2018).

Documentary filmmaker Yveline Nathalie Pontalier completed professional training in image techniques with a focus on techniques of cinematography in Brussels. In her artistic statement, she had this to say about her work:
Issues regarding social exclusion are recurring topics in my film projects. These choices are driven by my personal background, my environment, and the desire to listen to people to whom no one else listens; allowing them to express themselves by showing the complexity of their lives beyond stereotypes.

For Pauline Mvele, originally from Burkina Faso and who now calls Gabon her home, cinema is a commitment, evident in her choice of themes that focus on the voiceless, the rejected and the weak. To make films is to be socially engaged: "I cannot remain indifferent, silent and blind to certain situations or causes that I see in my country, Gabon, so I decided to make films in order to bring to the surface some of the problems of our society."

Matamba Kombila, of French-Gabonese parentage, explores the evolving complexities of her multiple identities and the cultural, geographical tensions of these positionalities, evident in her recent film, Mundele (2019)

Nadine Osobogo has brought recent prominence to Gabon with the creation of the Masuku Film Festival in 2013, which focuses on nature and the environment. She had this to say about why she launched the festival:

The Masuku Festival has as objective to provide “culture for everyone” … Gabon has a fifty-year history of cinema but only one festival, the Escales Documentaire of Libreville. However, the documentary films are only seen in the capital, in Libreville. Like other countries in Africa, Gabon no longer has cinema houses. It is up to us to create the venues to share our art. To make films is good, but what is the interest of it, if our friends, relatives, neighbors do not see them?


The growing list of Gabonese women in screen culture include:

Manouchka Kelly Labouba, Rose Elise Mengue-Bekale, Matamba Kombila, Pauline Mvele Nambané, Yéno Anongwi, Victorine Bella Meyo, Nadine Otsobogo, Alice Atérianus Owanga.


Gabonese Women in  Cinema, Visual Media and Screen Culture on the African Women in Cinema Blog

Matamba Kombila: Mundele n blanche, étrangère
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/07/matamba-kombila-mundele-n-blanche.html

The African Who Wanted to Fly by Samantha Biffot, Gabon
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2018/10/ndiva-womens-film-festival-2018-african.html

Matamba Kombila: “Sens Dessus Dessous” crowdfunding campaign | campagne Indiegogo
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2018/05/matamba-kombila-sens-dessus-dessous.html

Pauline Mvele: "Sans famille" | "Without family"
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2015/02/fespaco-2015-pauline-mvele-sans-famille.html


Yveline Nathalie Pontalier: crowdfunding sur Indiegogo pour “Le club des silencieux” | crowfunding for the “The Silent Club”
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2015/01/yveline-nathalie-pontalier-lance-une.html


Nadine Otsobogo: Interview by/par Stéphanie Dongmo
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2014/09/nadine-otsobogo-public-is-shy-about.html


Dialemi, de/by Nadine Otsobogo - une analyse du film | an analysis of the film par/by Mohamed Dagnoko
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2014/06/dialemi-deby-nadine-otsobogo-un-analyse.html

Nadine Otsobogo crée le Festival du Film de Masuku | Nadine Otsobogo creates the Film Festival of Masuku
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2013/08/nadine-otsobogo-cree-le-festival-du.html


Samantha Biffot (Gabon) : L'oeil de la cité | The Eye of the Town
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2013/02/fespaco-2013-samantha-biffot-loeil-de.html


Yveline Nathalie Pontalier : Le marechalat du roi-Dieu | The Marshal of the God-king
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2013/02/fespaco-2013-yveline-nathalie-pontalier.html

FESPACO 2013 - Nadine Otsobogo : Elle s'amuse | Dialemi | She's having fun
 https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2013/02/fespaco-2013-nadine-otsobogo-elle.html

Nadine Otsobogo: The making of The Fish Bucket
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2011/10/nadine-otsobogo-fish-bucket.html

A Conversation with Nadine Otsobogo
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2011/05/conversation-with-nadine-otsobogo.html

 

Matamba Kombila: Mundele n: blanche, étrangère - white, foreigner

Matamba Kombila, of French-Gabonese parentage, explores the evolving complexities of her multiple identities and the cultural, geographical tensions of these positionalities. Her short experimental film Mundele n: blanche, étrangère, contextualizes the conversation.

An interview with Matamba Kombila by Beti Ellerson, July 2020.

Matamba, talk a bit about yourself, your evolution into filmmaking.

I had reached a glass ceiling in the fashion industry where I was working as events producer for high-end brands. I had understood I’d never get to the positions my degrees could have led me to because I wasn’t Caucasian. I needed to move on to a field where I would have a sense of community and professional fulfillment after years of feeling used, shortchanged and often alienated. I therefore decided to follow my heart and my innate passion for the moving image and storytelling, and to become a filmmaker. I had actually been teaching myself screenwriting and directing while I was in fashion, and had started developing screenplays. My first experience in film was on the set of Tanya Hamilton’s Night Catches Us, in the production design department. I was always drawn to stories revolving around social justice, so working on a film about the story of the wife of a slain Black Panther leader felt like an omen and confirmed I was on the right path. I started shooting a few years later, after I took amazing intensive workshops at Ela Thier’s Independent Film School. I literally used my cellphone for my few first films. I couldn’t wait to own a camera to start creating, or, for someone who had one, to be available to do it with me. It gave me a good sense of composition and movement in the frame. I realize that editing myself or assisting the editor for all the films I have made since then have allowed me to hone my screenwriting skills. Likewise, producing and managing the production of fellow filmmakers’ shorts or features makes me build capacity while being part of the creative process, which is priceless. I am now working at improving my technical knowledge to understand how to best match the story’s intention and mood with the visual. It's a never-ending, fascinating, growing process.

You film is titled, Mundele n: blanche, étrangère, English subtitled as white, foreigner. What does this title mean?

Mundele literally means white, foreigner in the Lingala language, which is spoken in DRC and Congo, where it was shot. I found through my travels that in many African streets, when you stand out from the crowd, people call out to you. In Congo where I shot the film, I was Mundele. And in many African countries, I am called white, foreigner.

For a short film with a duration of just under 10 minutes, there is a great deal that the spectator must extrapolate. Is that your intention?

It is constructed as avenues of reflection on themes that revolve around the make up of my identity. I don’t want to state anything. I simply want to highlight situations or events that may bring answers to the questioning around it.

You ask questions to your entourage, which appear to be in fact existential, and not really in search of a probing response. On the other hand there are a host of questions that the film provokes. Perhaps I will start with my own questions: what was your objective for making the film? 

The intention of the initial project was to unpack some aspects of my complicated relationship with my mother and show her my love. My objective for making the film was to draw a parallel between what’s commonly called France-Afrique and myself, the offspring of a French woman and a Gabonese man. I wanted to explore the juxtaposition of the complicated relationship between the colonizer and its outposts on the continent and my identity, the mix of the cultures and histories of the colonizer and the colonized.

The film starts with you at the hairdresser’s salon surrounded by a circle of young African women as they each take part in coiffing your hair. A metaphor, a signifier, perhaps of your identity, as it is transformed into a Gabonese hairstyle. What role does hair play for you and why this choice in constructing the film? 

The film was made during a Documentary Filmmaking Workshop for Women at the French Institute of Pointe Noire. The idea of the salon came from the instructor, Rufin Mbou Mikima, who came up with it when we started discussing the story. Interestingly, I had thought about using hair as a vector of identity but wasn’t sure how. My hair is my antenna, my connector to the universe and the cosmic forces. It is also a shield that protects me against the cold and the heat, balancing out my body temperature. At last, it is an element of style that allows me to tell stories about myself and my ancestors; an “identifier”. Therefore getting my hair done is something very intimate that often leads to insightful conversations, so the salon was a perfect setting to broach the theme of my identity. After we collected all of the images, we came up with the structure of the mirror for the film. Its first part, shot in the salon, is the front of the mirror, what I see and am perceived by others; its second part, my walk in the streets of Pointe Noire, is what’s behind it, what I perceive as my identity’s founding elements.

There have been a flurry of films by mixed-raced women especially of African-European origin, who probe the question of color, of identity, of belonging. To name a few: Ngozi Onwurah: The Body Beautiful. Sarah Bouyain: Les Enfants du blanc (Children of the White Man) and Notre Etrangère (The Place in Between). Claude Haffner: Blanche ici, noire la-bàs (Footprints of My Other). In the latter two, echoes of your film title is evident. There is also the film, Métis (Mixed-race), co-directed by Maëlle Cherpion, Charlotte Manguette and Mélissa Quinet, the latter who is the grand-daughter of one of the two protagonists of the documentary. In addition, Irish-Kenyan Zélie Asava, who is also mixed-race, published her research in the book titled Mixed Race Cinemas, Multiracial Dynamics in America and France. There have even been several films also about mixed-raced girls/women by African women who are not, I am thinking of Sous la clarité de la lune (Under the Moonlight) by Apolline Traoré and Au phantom du père (The Ghost of the Father) by Laurentine Bayala, for example. There is also Isabelle Boni-Claverie, whose grandmother was a white Frenchwoman, who dealt with the subject in her short film, Pour la nuit. Perhaps I could ask you, do you have some thoughts about why this topic may be a specific quest for women?

I am finding out now that there are so many films on the topic. I saw a few of that your mentioned, but didn’t know of all of them. I’ll research and watch. I am curious to see how my fellow lady filmmakers have treated the topic. I will not use the word race because it doesn’t exist within the human realm.

Now back to your question. For me, even knowing quite a bit about genetics, it still is fascinating to know that I come out of the belly of a woman and look nothing like her. It was complicated to construct my identity growing up when I was on one end not allowed to identify to her, and on the other end told that I was only her. Indeed in the West I was always perceived as African or mixed, when in Africa I was perceived as Caucasian. Ultimately, maybe women ponder over the topic because we give life and we are the origin of all these multicultural babies that often find themselves at odds with their environment. The truth is we are the fruit of the love of two individuals of different cultures, the living proof that the divisive concept of race is a hoax. We make a lot of people feel uncomfortable because of their preconceptions and prejudice built-in by 500 years of history. I feel like its onto women to undo this. I am glad to see that several of us talk about our experience being mixed African-European because our testimonies carry elements of solutions to the problems of “racism” and its children, Caucasian supremacy and ongoing colonialism. We are after all the natural link between the opposite sides.

What has been the feedback to the film in African countries where it has been screened?

At the screenings I attended, there was no feedback so I explained the film to the audience. Then some audience members commented that my point of view made them understand aspects of the mixed African-European identity they had never thought about. It gave them insights not only on the personality of some of their mixed friends or relatives, but also on their own makeup, being the descendants of people who used to call Europeans their ancestors. I was asked a few times why the hairdressers don’t answer my questions. In fact they do. But we had sound issues so it turns out to be some sort of monologue with the effect that you describe earlier.

In your experiences, what are the similarities and differences to mixed race-identity in Africa compared to the West?

In my experience, the only similarity to mixed identity in Africa compared to the West is the ever-present unconscious stigma, consequence of the racialization of humans by the Catholic Church to justify the objectification of Africans in order to serve Western capitalism, with the complicity of African traders.

The differences are undeniable. In the African countries I have visited, I was either perceived as a national (Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia), or as a white/foreigner but in the end always accepted for who I am and integrated. Interestingly, my mixed culture may be perceived as an asset because it may allow navigating a multifaceted African world with ease, to the benefit of the community. South Africa is a different story, because colorism defines social class and status. In Cape Town, I didn't quite feel like a human. I was colored, confined to some margins of society. I had a similar experience in France and in the few European countries I have visited where ultimately, the majority of people were uncomfortable with who I am because I don’t quite fit in any category they are familiar with. Except for the UK where the notion of mixed culture seems assimilated. In the USA or Brazil, I am Black. I am denied my European heritage and I institutionally have a very limited space in the Caucasian world, which ironically, is nevertheless equally as mine as the African world. So ultimately, the main difference is that Africa seems to still be welcoming the other with open arms, when the West seems scared of ghosts that it has not made peace with. 

Future works?

I am currently developing my first feature film, a story of revenge in political circles in Gabon, with a female lead. The project results from two residencies, in Burkina Faso and Cameroon.

I should start editing soon the footage that I have been shooting over the past few months in Cameroon where I found myself stranded when Covid-19 hit and borders closed, and where I spent the past 5 months.

I am also just starting a documentary project with a collective of African filmmakers where the objective is truth and reconciliation with our past as accomplices in the slave trade.