African Women in Cinema - Sister Stories | Films about Sisters

African Women in Cinema

Sister Stories | Films about Sisters

Sisters of the Screen, the title of my ongoing project on African women in cinema, invokes the notion of a kinship shared through screen culture. Within this "sisterhood" are also experiences of sisters who have biological relationships. They come together as collaborators on film productions, protagonists in films, daughters of a famous filmmaker mother--keeping her torch alive.

Annouchka de Andrade and Henda Ducados, the daughters of Sarah Maldoror (1929-2020) are continuing the work of the existing Archives that Sarah created which entails retaining rights, recovering and restoring copies of films. Their objective is to ensure that Sarah's work continues to be visible and that the archives are available to all. Their heartfelt reflections on her as "filmmaker, woman and mother" provide a rare portrait both intimate and holistic, of Sarah's life; and at the same time, demonstrate the indelible mark she has left on them as daughters--children of cinema. Two sisters who in their own lives and work, continue their mother's journey to have "an impact on this world"…"always moving forward".

Similarly, Senegalese sister filmmakers Khady Sylla and Mariama Sylla, who collaborated on seven films together, were in many ways, "children of African cinema". Their mother worked at the secretariat of the Actualités Sénégalaises under the direction of Paulin Sumanou Vieyra, a breeding ground and site for the development of the young Senegalese cinema of the period. Nicknamed “Katanga”, it was the venue of hot debates about cinema and other cinematic trends--realism versus Soviet, Italian neorealism, New Wave, Brazil Novo Cinema.... (Translation, cited from Baba Diop, in French)

In her interview, journalist/film critic Djia Mambu asks Mariama Sylla about her experiences working with her sister Khady Sylla, who passed away in October 2013 and to what extent her passing influenced the ending of the film:

Mariama Sylla responded in this way:

"I started working with my sister at the age of 17; she is the one who trained me and introduced me to cinema and scriptwriting. The person I am today is the result of this long journey with Khady, the first-born of our family. I am the youngest and she and I often laughed about being at these two ends, despite the difference in age and education, we were able to come together."

"Khady's passing greatly influenced the final voice-over in the film but the visual editing is the same, as we had completed it just before her death. There are two voices in the film. The first is Khady’s, which was done in her presence, and the second is mine, which I wrote while finalising the film. I went through a moment of shock and anger, then slowly, the phrase in Césaire's work Notebook of a Return to My Native Land was constantly in my thoughts, and all this anger turned into a desire to write about my sister, to tell her a final goodbye, and this is how my voice was laid down in the film."

The film A simple parole was completed after Khady's death. In spirit, the two sisters continued their work together.

Belgian-Congolese sisters Cecile Mulombe Mbombe—cinematographer, and Pauline Mulombe—filmmaker, collaborated on their first joint project, the short film, Tout le monde a des raisons d'en vouloir à sa mère (Everyone has Reasons to be Angry with her Mother). While they have assisted each other on their respective work, this is the first time that they made a film together. They selected the sets and filming locations and did the storyboard together, while Cecile dealt with the technical side—the choice of the technical crew, the equipment and all of the tasks that entailed transforming the script to the realization of the film and Pauline focused on the creative side, hence, her ideas are represented on screen—in terms of her vision of the actors’ roles, the film set, the mise-en scène. Their proximity as sisters provided an immediate level of confidence and understanding in each other. Pauline emphasizes this point: "Only Cecile could know that when I said 'green', in fact, I meant 'blue'." Moreover, Tout le monde a des raisons d'en vouloir à sa mère follows the experiences of three sisters who were born and raised in Europe though their mother insists on raising them based on African values. In our interview, Pauline had this to say about the three sisters:

 

"The youngest wants to enjoy herself and grow and develop by making the most of European social and cultural life. The middle sister wants to utilize all of the possibilities available to resolve her problems, even if it means doing things that are unthinkable in her culture of origin, such as taking the birth control pill when still an adolescent. The oldest, even if she does not openly show her homosexuality, knows that she is 100% gay."

The daughters at the same time negotiate their relationship with their mother while attempting to understand each other as sisters and as young African women living in Belgium.

Mary-Noël Niba'a comedy series "Jane and Mary", in 6-minute episodes, employs humor to explore the everyday experiences of the eponymous sisters Jane who is 21 and her sister Mary, who is two years younger. Though at the same time close, their contrasting personalities animate the twists and turns of life in Yaoundé, where they live with their uncle Fred who is a wealthy businessman. Many times, it is in the light-heartedness of humor or comedy that the drama in relationships, and otherwise difficult situations may be resolved. In our interview Mary-Noël describes the use of comedy in this way:

 

"The idea is to highlight those situations that we joke about, though are not very funny, or the everyday occurrences that we laugh off, but that we really want to find a way out of. The use of a cheerful and comical tone is to downplay dramatic situations. The denunciation of certain everyday problems in fact draws attention to these realities, which, because of their frequency, become almost ordinary." 

Hence, the emotional fluctuations in this sister-sibling relationship are treated with amusement and insouciance.

Also with humor, the web-series, Afropolitaine, which focuses on Afro-French culture relates the experiences of two Paris-based millennial sisters and their family dynamics, introducing the milieus of Yvoire, a 24-year-old business student and Yanis, a 20-year-old fledgling activist, as they interact often with opposing views.

In constrast, Alda and Maria by Pocas Poscoal recounts the coming-of-age story of the eponymous 16 and 17 year-old sisters fending for themselves as they make their way in Lisbon. Hoping to reunite with their mother who ultimately does not make the voyage from worn-torn Angola. Partially autobiographical, Pocas draws from her and her sister's experiences as well as the many other Angolan immigrants. She had this to say about making the film:

"In the eighties, hundreds of adolescents were sent to Portugal to escape the war in Angola or to avoid military service. I was one of those young people. With very little money in our pockets, my mother put my sister and me on a plane to Lisbon. In war-affected Angola, Lisbon resonated in our ears like a promise of freedom. We arrived in that city with a heart full of hope. Though my mother was to join us soon afterwards, the Angolan state signed a decree banning anyone from leaving the country. At sixteen and seventeen years old, we were on our own in a Lisbon suburb..." (Cinemassy: Pocas Pascoal with Ciomara Morais, Cheila Lima. 2012).

Iman Djionne's film project in development, "Coura + Ouleye" centers on the relationship between 16 and 19 year-old Coura and Oulèye, paternal sisters born into the complex polygamous family in which their respective mothers are co-wives. After the unexpected death of their father they set off to find his will and in the process get to know each other. Iman had this to say about the theme of the film project: 

 

"The starting point of this story was wanting to explore what that bond could be like in this particular context where mothers are in conflict, living and raising their children apart. Can it exist, can it thrive even? By doing that, I wanted to examine how one man’s decision affects an entire family, informing who those individual members become and how they relate to the world… Starting out as mirror images of their mothers, Coura and Oulèye’s quest will take them outside of Dakar, far from their family’s burden and society’s expectations, to find a way through their sisterhood to break free from that mold, become their own, and in doing that, possibly bridge a broken community." (Director's Statement-Produire au Sud).

So the notion of "sisters of the screen" broadens to include "sisters on screen" encompassing the collaboration, representation, relationships and connections of biological sisters. Off screen, they collaborate in their production and advocacy as makers and stakeholders. As image-makers African women are striving to create complex, realistic, multi-dimensional representations of sister-sibling relationships on screen.   

 Report by Beti Ellerson

 

Following are links to the posts on the African Women in Cinema Blog from which the above texts were drawn.

The Sisters Act of Cecile and Pauline
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2010/07/sisters-act-of-cecile-and-pauline.html

Alda and Maria by Pocas Pascoal
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2014/11/pocas-pascoal-angola-alda-and-maria.html

Une Simple Parole by Khady Sylla and Mariama Sylla
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2015/03/laff-2015-une-simple-parole-single-word.html

Interview - Mary-Noël Niba : Jane & Mary, the comedy series | la série comique
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/05/interview-mary-noel-niba-jane-mary.html

Iman Djionne (Coura + Oulèye) : La Fabrique 2020 - Les Cinémas du monde
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/07/iman-djionne-coura-ouleye-la-fabrique.html

Reflections on: Another Gaze presents. The Legacies of Sarah Maldoror (1929–2020)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/05/reflections-on-another-gaze-presents.html

Afropolitaine la webserie 100% Afro https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/12/afropolitaine-la-webserie-100-afro.html

11 cinéastes africaines interpellent Abdou Diouf pour un soutien effectif du cinéma panafricain et francophone

Rama Thiaw (Photo © Camille Millerand)

11 cinéastes africaines interpellent Abdou Diouf pour un soutien effectif du cinéma panafricain et francophone

Source : Citizen-nantes.com. Photo © Camille Millerand (de Rama Thiaw, auteur, réalisatrice et productrice, initiatrice de la lettre).

Alors que se déroule le 15e Sommet de la Francophonie à Dakar du 29 au 30 novembre 2014, 11 cinéastes africaines se lèvent pour réclamer haut et fort au président Abdou Diouf, actuel secrétaire général de l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), de soutenir de manière "effective" le "cinema panafricain et francophone" par le biais de l'institution, maîtresse de la francophonie.

Quand on sait que le "Centre de Conférence de Diamniadio", qui accueille le sommet, a coûté 77 748 998 euros (51 milliards de FCFA) et que rien n'est envisagé pour son avenir, pas même une grande école du cinéma...

La note aux journalistes met à jour le rôle des médias, petits et grands, à faire vivre cette interpellation, pour que remonte au Président l'impatience argumentée et légitime de ces 11 femmes jusqu'à ce qu'il réponde.

Aucune transparence dans les fonds destinés au Cinéma pour les rares exceptions où ces fonds existent, un désintérêt total de nos gouvernements pour la Culture et plus exactement le Cinéma. Ici au Sénégal, l’état nous a promis il y a deux ans un fond pour le Cinéma, depuis nous avons eu trois Ministres de la Culture qui se sont succédés et aucune information, aucun calendrier sur ce fond pour lequel les appels ont été fait depuis novembre 2013.

Extrait de la lettre à Abdou Diouf

NOTE AUX JOURNALISTES

Chers collègues journalistes,

Nous sommes 11 cinéastes africaines à avoir co-signé cette longue lettre de 7 pages, que nous avons adressé au Président Abdou Diouf, en qualité de secrétaire de l'Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (O.I.F).

Bien-entendu, celui-ci, n'a pas daigné encore nous répondre... Peut être se réserve t-il pour le dernier jour du Sommet ?!

Quoiqu’il en soit avec les collègues, nous avons décidé de l'envoyer à la presse.

Après avoir essayé des versions courtes, qui n'ont pas convaincu, nous avons décidé de la laisser tel quelle car elle parle de la réalisation, production, formation, distribution et financement, des problèmes et solutions, avec comme question de fond: ou en est le fond Panafricain d'aide au Cinéma ? Et est ce que le fond d'aide au cinéma de l'OIF va disparaitre comme c'est le cas depuis deux ans où il n'y a pas eu d'appel à projet...

En sachant que si ce fond disparait, c'est juste catastrophique, car cela voudra dire en qualité de réalisateur et producteur africain francophone, nous n'aurions plus de guichet de financement.

Par ailleurs c'est aussi la première fois que 11 femmes cinéastes du continent mènent une action collective.

Nous souhaiterions la publier, en sachant pleinement, qu'elle risque d'être écourté par vos rédactions.

Rama THIAW (Sénégal), Angèle DIABANG, Mariama SYLLA et Marie KA (Sénégal), Nadège BATOU (Congo Brazzaville), Samora SEKHUKHUN (Afrique du Sud), Laurentine BAYALA (Burkina-Faso), Siam MARLEY (Côte d’Ivoire), Pauline MVELE (Gabon), Ifrikia KENGUE (Journaliste - Congo Brazzaville), Ariane Astrid ATODJI (Cameroun)

IN ENGLISH

11 African women filmmakers call upon Abdou Diouf to give effective support to Pan-African and Francophone cinema

Rama Thiaw (Photo © Camille Millerand)

11 African women filmmakers call upon Abdou Diouf to give effective support to Pan-African and Francophone cinema

Source : Citizen-nantes.com. Photo © Camille Millerand (of Rama Thiaw, author, filmmaker, producer, originator of letter). Translated from French.

As the 15th Francophone Summit unfolded in Dakar from 29 to 30 November 2014, 11 African women filmmakers rose to voice their demand to President Abdou Diouf, current Secretary General of the International Francophone Organisation (OIF), to give support in an "effective" way, to "Pan-African and French cinema", using the strength of the organisation as vehicle for this action.

It is known that the "Diamniadio Conference Centre", which hosts the summit, cost 77,748,998 euros (51 billion FCFA) and nothing is planned for it in the future, not even a major film school.

This memorandum to journalists underscores the vital role of the media, large and small, to spread this urgent call, so that the President is aware that until he responds, the well-founded and legitimate impatience of these 11 women will remain.

There is no transparency regarding funding for Cinema, in the rare exceptions where such funds exist. There is a total disinterest of our governments for Culture and more particularly for Cinema. Here in Senegal, two years ago the state promised us funding for Cinema, since then we have had three successive Ministers of Culture with no information, no timetable regarding this funding, for which inquiries have been made since November 2013.

Copy of letter to Abdou Diouf – in French

MEMO TO JOURNALISTS

Dear journalist colleagues,

We are 11 African women filmmakers who have co-signed a long 7-page letter addressed to President Abdou Diouf, who serves as secretary of the International Francophone Organisation (OIF).

Well of course, he has not yet agreed to meet with us ... Perhaps he is waiting for the last day of the Summit?

In any event, we have decided to send it to the press.

After attempting to write shorter versions, which were less persuasive, we decided to leave it as is, because it speaks of the problems and solutions regarding directing, production, training, distribution and financing; with the fundamental question: where is the Pan-African Aid for Cinema Fund? And will the OIF funding for cinema simply disappear as has been the case for the past two years, during which there have not been any Calls for Projects…

Knowing that if the funding disappears, it will be simply devastating, because it will mean that as Francophone African filmmakers and producers, we will no longer have a financing source.

Moreover, it is also the first time that 11 women filmmakers from the continent are taking collective action.

We would like to publish it, knowing fully well that it may be shortened.

Rama THIAW (Senegal), Angèle DIABANG, Mariama SYLLA et Marie KA (Senegal), Nadège BATOU (Congo Brazzaville), Samora SEKHUKHUN (South Africa), Laurentine BAYALA (Burkina Faso), Siam MARLEY (Côte d’Ivoire), Pauline MVELE (Gabon), Ifrikia KENGUE (Journalist - Congo Brazzaville), Ariane Astrid ATODJI (Cameroon)

Remembering Khady Sylla: Djia Mambu interviews Mariama Sylla, producer and co-director of “A Single Word” (with the late Khady Sylla) | À la mémoire de Khady Sylla : Entretien avec Mariama Sylla, par Djia Mambu

Djia Mambu interviews Mariama Sylla, producer and co-director of the film “A Single Word” (with the late Khady Sylla). 

SOURCE: Africine.org. Translated from French by Beti Ellerson.

"A Simple Word", premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the documentary by the Senegalese sisters/filmmakers, Mariama and Khady Sylla, draws a picture of their traditional oral culture where their grandmother remains one of the last guarantors of genealogical memory.

Khady Sylla, who died in October 2013, left with us a tribute to the ancestors and those who have gone. It is the seventh collaboration with her younger sister, who considers this the most accomplished of their work.

Djia Mambu: Two Senegalese sister filmmakers, this is rather rare in this realm?

Mariama Sylla: I started working with my sister at the age of 17; she is the one who trained me and introduced me to cinema and scriptwriting. The person I am today is the result of this long journey with Khady, the first-born of our family. I am the youngest and she and I often laughed about being at these two ends, despite the difference in age and education, we were able to come together.

DM: How did you come up with the idea to make a film paying tribute to your ancestors?

MS: The idea for the film came one day when, while sitting on a mat next to our great grandmother, her voice broke the silence of the evening sunset and the purple twilight. She sang of her ancestors. Her slightly husky voice, the emotion that it carried, moved us deeply. Though we were not able to record these words that came from the depths of time, we were satisfied with listening to the voice of this centenarian with whom we had woven so many ties.

It is from this moment that we had a desire to make a film about the oral tradition but seen from the perspective of our family, because we had realised that being of a generation of the written word, that this manner of relaying the word had escaped us.

DM: Oral transmission is at the heart of your culture, and it is your grandmother Penda Diogo Sarr who is the guardian. How did you manage to bring it to the screen?

MS: We filmed several takes as Penda Diogo Sarr taught us the words. We asked her to teach us the foundations of oral culture. She was very happy to do so, patiently repeating the words of a verse about three of our ancestors.

Our grandmother lives simultaneous disappearances, that of her own imminent  person because of her advanced age, and that of the world that witnessed her birth into the world of the Wolof peasantry. And that is why every time she meets her grandchildren, this meeting is highly emotional. All of the imperceptible emotion that you see in the film comes from this sense of loss. "A Single Word" is not an ethnographic film about speaking, but it is rather a portrait and a questioning of the world.

DM: These images of you with your grandmother are full of emotion…

MS:  Seen implicitly, read between the lines of the film, is this elder, in the twilight of her life, trying to convey that which risks disappearing with her. That is why we chose the simplest images as possible, in fusion with the bodies. This vision enabled us to film our ancestor while appearing in the film as secondary characters and as spectators.

DM: In your view, what is the real issue at stake if the oral transmission of culture and heritage disappears in Senegal, Africa, and in the world?

MS: The spoken word for the Wolof peasantry is the vehicle of all knowledge. Speech travels through time. The Wolof is often perceived as a person of the word, master of the oratorical art. Our grandmother Penda lived during colonisation at its most difficult moments: forced labour, the conscription of soldiers... She lived during independence, the rule of the new elites, and the gradual hegemony of the written word over oral tradition. She lived through the gradual disappearance of this world. The spoken word defies death and oblivion.

Presently, as a generation of the written word we have come to realise that the spoken word has eluded us through our existence as Senegalese women educated to master the word by writing it down. The disappearance of the spoken word is having a great impact on our lives not only in Africa but also for all humanity. 

DM: Especially with the explosion of social media over the past decade...

MS: In our opinion, all the crises in the world result from the fact that we live in a silent, nebulous world, where the notion of dialoguing, which includes sharing and talking to each other, becomes obsolete. And then we rely on Facebook and Twitter as a stopgap, as a means of communication--at the same time walking by ones sister in the morning without greeting her.

DM: Did the recent passing of Khady in any way influence the ending of the film?

MS: The passing of Khady greatly influenced the final voice-over in the film but the visual editing is the same, as we had completed it just before her death. There are two voices in the film. The first is Khady’s, which was done in her presence, and the second is mine, which I wrote while finalising the film. I went through a moment of shock and anger, then slowly, the phrase in Césaire's work Notebook of a Return to My Native Land was constantly in my thoughts, and all this anger turned into a desire to write about my sister, to tell her a final goodbye, and this is how my voice was laid down in the film.

DM: As the film screens in the cinema houses of Senegal, people will also view Khady's final work. What message from her will you give them?

MS: Khady often asked this question: "What happened to us as human beings, when Facebook and Twitter are rapidly replacing the ties created by speech, family and friends?". I ask this same question to the filmgoers and those who will read this interview, so that the followers of this virtual world can one day respond to this question.

Source: Africine.org [http://www.africine.org/?menu=art&no=12468]

À la mémoire de Khady Sylla : Entretien avec Mariama Sylla, par Djia Mambu. Productrice et coréalisatrice du film Une Simple Parole (avec la regrettée Khady Sylla)

SOURCE : Africine.org

Présenté en Première internationale au Festival international du Film de Toronto (TIFF), le documentaire des deux sœurs cinéastes sénégalaises Khady et Mariama Sylla, Une Simple Parole, dessine un portrait de leur culture traditionnelle orale où leur grand-mère demeure l'une des ultimes garantes de la mémoire généalogique.

Khady Sylla, disparue en octobre 2013 nous lègue ici un véritable hommage aux ancêtres et disparus. Une 7ème collaboration avec sa cadette qui estime cette œuvre comme la plus accomplie qu'elles aient réalisé.

L’INTEGRALITÉ DE L’ENTRETIEN À LIRE :

http://www.africine.org/?menu=art&no=12468