AFRICAN WOMEN IN CINEMA BLOG: Mariem mint Beyrouk

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.

Le Blog sur les femmes africaines dans le cinéma est un espace pour l'échange d'informations concernant les réalisatrices, comédiennes, productrices, critiques et toutes professionnelles dans ce domaine. Ceci sert de forum public du Centre pour l'étude et la recherche des femmes africaines dans le cinémas.

Showing posts with label Mariem mint Beyrouk. Show all posts

12 March 2021

African Women Journalists: Critical Engagements in African Cinemas

African Women Journalists: Critical Engagements in African Cinemas

Image: Poster of Mère-bi, a film by Ousmane William Mbaye

At the eve of African cinemas south of the Sahara, African women journalists have been at the forefront of film criticism and activism in the development of a cinema culture on the continent and the diaspora.

Senegalese Anne Mbaye d’Erneville studied journalism in Paris in the 1950s, returning to her country at the eve of independence to found a variety of cultural bodies among which include a cinema culture that has laid the foundation for contemporary cultural infrastructures. Her influences in cinema culture have spanned radio, print and television journalism and beyond. The emergence of the Dakar-based French-language women’s magazine, Awa, initially launched by Annette Mbaye d’Erneville in 1957 under the name Femmes de Soleil is an example of the early engagement of African women at the intersection of gender and culture. The first written works regarding African women in film were journalistic in nature, with photographs and short profiles of women television presenters and the first African actresses of the nascent African cinema. These reports published in 1966 and 1972 were included in the Senegal-based French-language women’s magazine Awa, la revue de la femme noire (1964-1973).

Moreover, Annette Mbaye d’Erneville was the director of RECIDAK, Rencontres cinématographiques de Dakar for many years. An annual film festival that she initiated in 1990 and with which she continues to have close ties. The 1996 edition of RECIDAK, Femmes et Cinéma (Women and Cinema) paid homage to African women. She was also a founding member of the Association Sénégalaise des Critiques de Cinéma (ASSECCI) created by filmmaker and critic Paulin Soumanou Vieyra and journalist Djib Diedhiou. Also one of the founders of the women’s movement in Senegal, Annette Mbaye d’Erneville’s pioneering feminist voice reverberates within diverse cultural milieux, notable cinema, where she has been a seminal figure in the development of the Senegalese public as cultural readers.

Cameroonian Thérèse Sita Bella (1933-2006), who held many functions as a journalist, is most widely known for Tam Tam à Paris, a 30-minute film that she directed in 1963; documenting the National Dance Company of Cameroon during its tour in the French capital. After the production of the film, while in France, Thérèse Sita Bella continued her work as journalist during which she participated in the creation of several African-focused cultural initiatives. She returned to Cameroon in 1967, working in various culture and cinema related positions.

Amina le magazine de la femme africaine et antillaise, also a French-language magazine, created in 1972, initially based in Dakar and later in Paris in 1975, has an early and present history of featuring profiles and interviews of filmmakers, actors, producers, stakeholders and other professionals in cinema. In its pages, Guinean editor-in-chief Assiatou Bah Diallo has played an important role in the promotion of women of the moving image.

Algerian Horria Saïhi is perhaps best known for her indefatigable work as journalist, reporter, and filmmaker against government censorship and religious fundamentalism. She was a 1995 laureate of the "Courage Award" presented by the International Women's Media Foundation.

Jihan El-Tahri worked for sometime as a journalist for many prominent news agencies but gradually found her interest in documentary filmmaking as a means to explore her subject more deeply. She had this to say about her move towards the documentary:
"I realized that as journalist we do not have the time to look into what is actually happening. We have deadlines everyday so you just skim the surface constantly and you don’t get to the bottom of what this is all about. And that is why I chose documentary. Because documentary was about taking the time to look into a topic that is close to your heart and really looking at it in an angle that you choose. And doing the research and taking the time and formulating it in a way that is your own expression. Where as a journalist, there are so many constraints in terms of space, the number of words, when your editor wants it, who’s going to edit it back there. So this was not what I was looking for. What I was looking for was a mode of expression and that I obviously didn’t find in journalism."

Mauritanian journalist and director, Mariem mint Beyrouk, considered a pioneer in the field of visual media in her country, received her training in France, Tunisia and Syria after which she joined the newly-created Mauritanian television (TVM) in 1982. She founded the Association of Mauritanian Women of the Image in 2009, which brings together women in technical and artistic fields in the visual media. Several initiatives have been dedicated to showcasing women’s works, such as “Femmes et Cinéma en Mauritanie” (Women and Cinema in Mauritania) an event held in Nouakchott in 2011, highlighting films that focus on politics, the environment and social development. One of the main objectives of the Association is to raise women’s consciousness through the visual media, about health issues, women in general, mother-infant health, the excision of girls, marriage of adolescent girls, among other issues. In 2021 she was named Mauritania coordinator by the Caucus of Pan African Journalists.

Throughout the continent a cohort of women are actively engaged in film journalism following the footsteps of these trailblazing women who have come before them. The African Women in Cinema Blog has featured several of these journalist activists:

Hortense Assaga created the magazine Cité Black Paris, hosts several cultural programs and regularly reports on cultural events for Africa 24 and Canal+ Afrique. Togolese film critic Sitou Ayité wears multiple hats as producer, scriptwriter and director. Amina Barakat from Morocco, navigates the local film culture scene as well as throughout the continent. Franco-Burkinabé Claire Diao traverses an array of transmedia networks: podcasts, audio-visual programming, itinerant film curation, and diverse print media. Cameroonian journalist Stéphanie Dongmo, blogger, president of the Cameroon chapter of CNA, Cinema Numerique Ambulant, the extensive network of mobile cinema in Africa and Europe, is also a novelist. Falila Gbadamassi, journalist, film critic and social media editor, informs and wants to be informed about Africa in particular. From Nollywood to Bollywood via Hollywood, she is both a film enthusiast and critic. She writes for Africiné Magazine (Dakar), among other media. France-based independent journalist Amanda Kabuiku collaborates with several publications. Belgo-Congolese Djia Mambu keeps a visible presence at the important network of African film festivals, Cannes and beyond. Similarly, Belgium-based filmmaker and journalist Wendy Bashi is a host of the programme Reflets Sud on TV5 Monde. Cameroonian journalist and film critic Pélagie Ng'onana is an editor at the Dakar-based Africiné Magazine and collaborates with the Yaoundé-based cultural revue Mosaïques. Originally working as journalist, Nadège Batou wanted to expand her audience beyond the community-based media, hence, acquiring the necessary training as director and producer. She is founder and director of the Festival des 7 Quartiers in Brazzaville. Similarly journalist-filmmaker Annette Kouamba Matondo of Congo-Brazzaville, is also an avid blogger, using social media to showcase local social activities and women’s initiatives. Domoina Ratsara from Madagascar is president of the Association des Critiques Cinématographiques de Madagascar (ACCM) which she co-founded in December 2018Senegalese Fatou Kiné Sene is general secretary of the Senegalese Film Critics Association. The goal of Senegalese Fatou Warkha, creator of the online television channel Warkha TV is to change attitudes and laws, giving a face and voice to everyone who has been forgotten by the authorities.

Report by Beti Ellerson

Following are articles published on the African Women in Cinema Blog by this growing cohort of journalists. (The post will be updated to include additional names and links).

Regarding Anne Mbye d'Erneville: https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2010/09/annette-mbaye-derneville-mere-bi.html

Regarding Thérèse Sita Bella: https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2010/10/foremothers-in-african-cinema-therese.html

Regarding Horria Saihi: https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2010/01/horria-saihi-portrait.html

Regarding Jihan El-Tahri: https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2010/11/tete-tete-with-jihan-el-tahri.html

Regarding Mariem mint Beyrouk: https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2011/08/mariem-mint-beyrouk-mauritanian-women.html

Hortense Assaga
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/06/conference-du-pavillon-des-cinemas.html

Sitou Ayité
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2011/03/mis-me-binga-international-womens-film.html

Amina Barakat
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2012/12/asmae-el-moudir-filmmaking-has-been-my.html
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2012/09/report-on-6th-edition-of-international.html

Wendy Bashi
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2018/07/cinef-4-2018-cinema-au-feminin-kinshasa_83.html
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2018/07/clarisse-muvuba-cinef-women-who-dare-le.html

Nadège Batou
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2010/11/conversation-with-nadege-batou.html

Annette Kouamba Matondo
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2012/06/annette-kouamba-matondo-duty-of-memory.html

Pélagie Ng'onana
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2017/06/mis-me-binga-2017-womens-cinema.html
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/01/nejib-ayed-le-cinema-est-un-vrai-mur.html

Fatou Kiné Sene
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2013/03/mois-du-cinema-au-feminin-women-in.html
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2015/04/sur-la-rive-on-shore-byde-mariama-sy.html
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/11/mame-woury-thioubou-5-etoiles-un-recit.html

Domoina Ratsara

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2021/07/domoina-ratsara-malagasy-film-critic.html

Fatou Warkha
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/02/tv5monde-warkhatv-briser-le-silence-des.html

21 May 2020

Mauritanian Women in Cinema, Visual Media and Screen Culture

Mauritanian Women

in Cinema, Visual Media

and Screen Culture

What prompted me to act was the courage and dedication of these brave women, who have children to feed and educate, and the elder to care for. And despite all of this, they work hard to meet the multiple needs of all these people. While at the same time, most of them are either divorced or married to men looking for work. [These women are extraordinary]… I wanted to show their role in the successful execution of family and society, because everything revolves around them. I wanted others to know about them and to support them--Mariem mint Beyrouk*

Mauritanian filmmaker Mariem mint Beyrouk, considered a pioneer in the field of visual media in her country, received her training in France, Tunisia and Syria after which she joined the newly created Mauritanian television (TVM) in 1982. She founded the Association of Mauritanian Women of the Image in 2009, which brings together women in technical and artistic fields in the visual media. Several initiatives have been dedicated to showcasing women’s works, such as “Femmes et Cinéma en Mauritanie” (Women and Cinema in Mauritania) an event held in Nouakchott in 2011, highlighting films that focus on politics, the environment and social development. One of the main objectives of the Association is to raise women’s consciousness through the visual media, about health issues, women in general, mother-infant health, the excision of girls, marriage of adolescent girls, among other issues.

Mai Mustafa Ekhou, born in Nouakchott, has worked as a photographer since 2011 and has contributed to international and Arab competitions and exhibitions. She entered the world of filmmaking in 2012 and worked as an actress, assistant director, director and independent director films.

Amal Saadbouh, who began directing in 2017, has won the best film award for two consecutive years at the 2017 and 2018 Nouakchott International Film Festival. Her work has also been presented internationally. Moreover, she is a member of the Union mauritanienne des jeunes cinéastes (Mauritanian Union of Young Filmmakers) and l'Académie El Mahrousa des médias (the El Mahrousa Academy of Media).

As Meya Moustapha was recognized for her creativity by the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports, in collaboration with the African Union Commission, for her film in progress "Lem Yentehi Baad", the Egyptian minister highlighted the importance in recognizing young African talent as an example of the capabilities that the continent holds.

Hence, echoing the vision of Mariem mint Beyrou, to show the empowering role that African women hold for society, the continent, and the world.

Report by Beti Ellerson

Following are articles published in the African Women in Cinema Blog:

Mai Mustafa Ekhou : It's not over yet

http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/05/recent-films-mai-mustafa-ekhou-its-not.html

Sewdetou (Sada) : Amal Saadbouh

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/02/festival-films-femmes-afrique-2020-amal.html

The First Box by/de Mai Mustafa Ekhou (Mauritania | Mauritanie)

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2017/03/luxor-african-film-festival-2017-first.html

Mariem mint Beyrouk: Mauritanian Women in Cinema

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2011/08/mariem-mint-beyrouk-mauritanian-women.html

*Source: tv5monde

16 August 2011

Mariem mint Beyrouk: Mauritanian Women in Cinema

©Mariem mint Beyrouk

Mauritanian filmmaker Mariem mint Beyrouk, speaks about cinema in Mauritania, the Association of Mauritanian Women of the Image, and her work as cineaste.

Mariem please begin by talking a bit about yourself.

My name is Mariem mint Beyrouk, I am a director and cineaste from Mauritania. In 1983, I joined the newly created Mauritanian television (TVM) after my first training internship in France at FR3 in Bordeaux and at TDF in Paris. Later I studied at the CAPJS (African center for advanced training of journalist and communicators) in Tunis and the training center of ASBU (Arab States Broadcasting Unit) in Damas. While there, I attended workshops facilitated by French, Arab and Belgian instructors.

I like my work very much, which I consider to be the greatest profession in the world. I direct several political and cultural programs at the TVM where I am head of a rather important unit.

I am also president of the Association of Mauritanian Women of the Image, which brings together female directors, camerapersons, script supervisors, etc.

Is there a cinema culture in Mauritania?

Cinema did exist in Mauritania along with several cinema houses, and people went regularly to the movie theater. However, at the beginning of the 1980s, with the emergence of television in Mauritania, it started to diminish until it disappeared. Cinema houses closed, replaced by video and television.

Television viewing is a favorite pastime due to satellite and information technology. However, in the last several years La Maison des Cinéastes (The House of Filmmakers) was created, which has given a new momentum to cinema. In addition, it organizes an annual festival.

You direct several programs at the Mauritanian Television, what are some of the themes and programs and their reception by viewers?

Yes, my television programs are well received. In fact, according to a TV poll, Kelimat we anguam, a cultural program, and Eraey etebi a program about health, received first-place rankings.

In 2007 I participated in the series “Femmes Battantes 2” (Women Go-getters 2) co-produced by CIRTEF and the TV Suisse Romande, which entailed scriptwriting and set viewing at the CIRTEF centre in Niger, and editing in Cameroon.

And your films?

My films have been well received by the public, especially Les chercheuses de pierres/Women in search of stones (2008), which won a prize at the Taille XL Festival in Brussels. It was an honor for me and for my country, as it was the first time that a Mauritanian television director brought home a prize from outside of Mauritania. Chercheuses de pierres is about a group of women who make jewelry and artwork from stone, for which they must travel alone in the desert to collect—a journey which may take several weeks.

The Association of Mauritanian Women of the Image is a very important organization! How many women are involved in it? What are its activities?

Our objective is to raise women’s consciousness about health issues, women in general, mother-infant health, the excision of girls, marriage of adolescent girls, etc.

During the last few years, women have begun to show interest in filmmaking because there was a tendency to only pursue journalism. The Association of Mauritanian Women of the Image is comprised of all the women working in technical and artistic fields at the TVM. The Association has more than one hundred women and most recently, young directors formed by La Maison des Cinéastes have joined. We have considered organizing festivals and meetings with our female counterparts throughout the continent but we do not yet have the means to do so.

Works in progress, future projects?

As for the future, I have many projects, including a documentary on the Imraguens, a Mauritanian fishing community who live on the northern coast. Among the fishing activities is the preparation of the fish, done by the women.

Interview and translation from French to English by Beti Ellerson, August 2011.

Version française

Mariem mint Beyrouk : Les femmes dans le cinéma en Mauritanie

Mariem mint Beyrouk, réalisatrice mauritanienne, parle du cinéma en Mauritanie, de l’Association Mauritanienne des Femmes d’Image et de son travail de cinéaste.

Mariem, parlez-nous d’abord de vous-même.

Je m’appelle Mariem mint Beyrouk, je suis réalisatrice et cinéaste mauritanienne. Je suis rentrée en 1983 à la toute jeune télévision de Mauritanie à l’époque, après avoir suivi mon premier stage de perfectionnement en France à FR3 à Bordeaux et sur TDF à Paris, et plus tard au Centre africain de perfectionnement des journalistes et communicateurs (CAPJC) de Tunis et au Centre de formation de l’ASBU de Damas, sans parler des stages sur place dirigés par des formateurs français, arabes et belges.

J’aime bien mon travail que je considère comme le plus beau métier du monde. Je réalise plusieurs émissions politiques et culturelles à la TVM (Télévision de Mauritanie) où je suis chef d’un service important.

Je suis aussi présidente de l’Association Mauritanienne des Femmes de l’Image (AMAFI) qui regroupe toutes les femmes réalisatrices, caméra, secrétaire de plateau, etc.

Une culture de cinéma en Mauritanie existe-elle ?

Le cinéma existait bien en Mauritanie, il existait plusieurs salles de projections et les gens allaient au cinéma mais depuis le début des années 80 avec l'avènement de la télé, ceci commençait à diminuer, puis à disparaître complètement. Les salles sont fermées et c'est la vidéo et la télé qui prennent leur place.

La télé est très suivie et c'est dû aux satellites et aux technologies de l'information. Mais depuis quelques années La Maison des Cinéastes a été créée et cela à donner un nouvel élan au cinéma. Une de ses initiatives est l’organisation d’un festival qui se déroule chaque année.

Vous réalisez des émissions à la TVM. Pouvez-vous élaborer des sujets et programmes, comment sont-il reçus par le public?

Oui je réalise des émissions à la télé qui sont bien appréciées par le public car d'après un sondage fait par la TVM les deux émissions que j'ai réalisées ont eu les premiers prix. Il s'agissait de Kelimat we anguam une émission culturelle et Eraey etebi une émission sur la santé.

En 2007 j'ai participé à la série « Femmes Battantes 2 », co-produite par le CIRTEF et la TV Suisse Romande au Centre du CIRTEF au Niger pour l'écriture du scénario et le visionnage de la maquette, et au Cameroun pour le montage.

Et vos films ?

Mes films ont été bien accueillis par le public, surtout Les chercheuses de pierres (2008) qui a même eu un prix au Festival Taille XL à Bruxelles. C'était un honneur pour moi et pour mon pays car c’est la première fois qu’un réalisateur de la télévision de Mauritanie décroche un prix à l'extérieur du pays. Chercheuses de pierres parle d'un groupe de femmes qui font des bijoux et des objets d’art à partir de pierres qu’elles partent seules chercher très loin dans le désert, ce qui peut durer des semaines.

L’Association Mauritanienne des Femmes de l’Image est une organisation très importante ! Combien de femmes font parties ? Quelles sont des initiatives ?

Notre but est de sensibiliser les femmes sur les problèmes de santé, de la femme en général, de la santé mère-enfant, de l’excision des filles, du mariage précoce des jeunes filles, etc.

Depuis ses dernières années, les femmes commencent à s'intéresser à la réalisation car elles avaient tendance plutôt d’être journalistes. L’Association Mauritanienne des Femmes d’Image compte en son sein toutes les femmes qui travaillent dans le domaine technico-artistique à la TVM. L’Association compte plus d'une centaine de femmes et tout dernièrement des jeunes réalisatrices formées par La Maison des Cinéastes y ont adhéré. On pense organiser des festivals et des rencontres avec nos consœurs du continent mais c’est les moyens qui nous manquent.

Projets en cours, futurs ?

Pour ce qui est du futur, j’ai beaucoup de projets dont un documentaire sur les Imraguens, une communauté de pécheurs mauritaniens qui vivent sur le littoral nord et dont l'activité est la pêche, et le travail du poisson est fait par des braves femmes.

Entretien par Beti Ellerson, août 2011.

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12 March 2021

African Women Journalists: Critical Engagements in African Cinemas

21 May 2020

Mauritanian Women in Cinema, Visual Media and Screen Culture

16 August 2011

Mariem mint Beyrouk: Mauritanian Women in Cinema

Mariem mint Beyrouk : Les femmes dans le cinéma en Mauritanie

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