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.
Director/Directrice, Centre for the Study and Research of African Women in Cinema | Centre pour l'étude et la recherche des femmes africaines dans le cinéma
Image: les films d'ici. Translation from French by Beti Ellerson
"Restez chez vous". Trois mots. Le 17 Mars 2020 tout s’arrête. L’évasion est interdite. Filmer le rien. Je décide de prendre ma caméra chaque jour. Je fais tout à l'instinct. Mon appartement au sixième étage a une perspective dégagée sur le ciel, une vue plongeante sur un cimetière, une rue, et sur l'autre versant, un grand angle sur la cour d'entrée. Dehors, un kilomètre à la ronde, je filme la vie des autres qui me rappelle que je suis seule. La radio tourne en boucle. La nostalgie du cinéma me rattrape. Moments insolites, poétiques, comiques. Deux mois, je n'en reviens toujours pas!
"Stay at home". Three words. On 17, March 2020 everything stops. Escape is forbidden. Filming the nothingness. I decide to take my camera every day. I do everything on instinct. My apartment on the sixth floor has a clear view of the sky, overlooking a cemetery, a street, and on the other side, a wide-angle view of the entrance of the courtyard. Outside, within a 1-kilometer radius, I film the lives of others, which reminds me that I am alone. The radio runs in a loop. Nostalgia for the cinema catches up with me. Moments: unexpected, poetic, comic. Two months—I am still amazed!
***
Jusqu'à début Mars 2020 mon insouciance (mon inconscience ?) était inébranlable… Jusqu'à l'appel de l'amie qui m'héberge à Tunis : "Nana, les autorités viennent d'annoncer que toute personne arrivant de l'étranger devra rester confinée 14 jours au domicile de son choix…".
La Tunisie s'est confinée bien avant la France. Dans la foulée Transavia m'envoie un e-mail "Votre vol pour Tunis-Carthage du 24 Mars est annulé, remboursement suit…". Décidément l'alignement des planètes n'était pas en ma faveur ! Je ne tournerai pas mon prochain film en Tunisie. Tout mon matériel, caméras, Nagra numérique était prêt. Mon désir de filmer enfin comblé, m'a procuré une immense énergie, elle est toujours là. Je lutte contre ce sentiment de frustration qui gâche le bonheur qu'on ressent à chaque veille de partir en tournage…
Quelques jours plus tard le président Macron nous annonce qu'en France nous allons être confinés à notre tour… Comme bon nombre de Parisiens, je vis dans un petit appartement. Comment supporter l'enfermement ? M'évader par l'œil de ma caméra m'apparait comme une évidence. Ma décision de filmer chaque jour est pour moi un acte de résistance.
Mon appartement au sixième étage, a de nombreuses fenêtres, une perspective dégagée sur le ciel d'un côté, ainsi qu'une vue plongeante sur un cimetière, une rue, une cour, et sur l'autre versant une autre cour, l'entrée de l'immeuble. Par ailleurs mon iPhone me permettra de faire des prises de vues lors de mes sorties. J'écoute aussi beaucoup la radio, j'enregistre des bribes d'émission… Je décide de mettre à profit ce temps qui m’est imposé pour dessiner les contours d’un témoignage.
Un témoignage dont je suis certaine qu’il sera compris par le plus grand nombre, puisque finalement je ne suis pas la seule.
***
Until the beginning of March 2020 my insouciance, (my recklessness?) was unflappable…Until a call from the friend who is hosting me in Tunis: “Nana, the authorities just announced that anyone arriving from abroad must stay in quarantine for 14 days at a home of their choice…”
Tunisia went into lock-down well before France. In the same moment, Transavia sends me an e-mail: Your flight for Tunis-Carthage on 24 March is canceled, a reimbursement will follow…” Decidedly, the alignment of the planets was not in my favor!
I will not shoot my next film in Tunisia. All my equipment, cameras, digital Nagra was ready. My desire to film, finally fulfilled, gave me an immense energy, it is still there. I fight against this feeling of frustration which shatters the happiness that one feels at the eve of each departure for a film shoot.
A few days later President Macron announces that in France we will also go into lockdown. Like many Parisians, I live in a small apartment. How to endure this lockdown? To escape through the eye of my camera seems self-evident. My decision to film every day is for me an act of resistance.
My sixth-floor apartment has many windows, a clear perspective of the sky on one side, as well as a view overlooking a cemetery, a street, a courtyard, and from the other, a view of another courtyard, and the building entrance. In addition, my iPhone will allow me to shoot during my outings. I also listen to the radio a lot, I record snippets of the programs.
I decide to take advantage of this time that has been imposed on me in order to shape the contours of a personal testimony.
A testimony that I am sure many others will recognize, since ultimately I am not the only one.
Translation of the introductory paragraph published in Semfilms.org (in French): “Dawa, the call to God, a jihadist progaganda film?” by the producers of the film, Gideon Vink, Abdoulaye Diallo, Youlouka Damiba--Association Semfilms Burkina“We are obliged to react publicly to the commentary of Nadia El Fani, president of the documentary jury of Fespaco 2019, who refers to our production, Dawa, l’appel à Dieu, as an ‘insidious and dangerous propaganda film’. The comments of which she wanted to relay at the closing ceremony of the festival, which are now circulating on social media.”
Semfilms.org : « Dawa, l’appel à Dieu un film de propaganda jihadiste ? » par Gideon Vink, Abdoulaye Diallo, Youlouka Damiba Producteurs du film Association Semfilms Burkina: Nous sommes obligés de réagir publiquement aux propos de Nadia El Fani, présidente du jury documentaire du Fespaco 2019, qui qualifie notre production « Dawa, l’appel à Dieu » un « film de propagande insidieuse et dangereuse ». Propos qu’elle a voulu relayer à la cérémonie de clôture du festival, qui se trouvent désormais sur les réseaux sociaux. Lire l'intégralité du texte @ Semfilms.org
***
Nadia El Fani:
English translation [Français ci-après]
Some of you asked me about my response to the article published on the SemFilms blog [by the producers of Dawa, l’appel à Dieu replying to my comments regarding the said film]. Here is my response, which I left them the liberty to post on their blog, I found that to be fair play ... they chose not to do so, hence ... I persist and sign ...
This is why I persist in my warning about Dawa, l’appel à Dieu (Dawa, the call to God). I watched the film again and even took notes; I have not changed my mind. And I also re-read our statement regarding the film. I think it is measured because it places our alert in the current context:
"Living together" as you say, should not leave room for naivety or indulgence. Once again, a film looks at itself with what we are given to see, not with intentions explained a posteriori. This film, I maintain, defends the Dawa (preaching), a religious proselytization without nuances, a call to follow religion to the letter, without reservations ...
This is the framework of an official competition in a festival that, as we have recalled in our text, defends certain values of progress, freedom, diversity, emancipation of women, etc.
Nobody denies Malik Konaté the right to make the film he wants ... But what about a film in which (and these are just some examples):
- it is said in the commentary Dawa is seen as a cult, "it encourages people to follow Islam, urges people to be in the service of God"
- Islamic proselytism is presented as a duty "to incite people to adore God", we also see an evangelist friend of the director go to the markets convince women to veil and even make remarks when it is not the case, and we see him later at home with his wife, who is completely veiled in black and revealing only her eyes,
- the radio show presents the director as "a man of all Islamic struggles", and when a listener asks a question about the leaders of Dawa who were the leaders of the terrorists, the question is evaded in favor of a laconic definition of Dawa by the director: "which shows the way of God to enter paradise", then a comment from the presenter who says Dawa is not involved in the terrorist network, it is not good to lie "...
- The director is only part of a condition and of the questions he asks ... But he still does not give a critical view regarding Dawa ...
Towards the 58 to 60 minutes of the film there is again the friend of the director, the preacher at the market in the beginning, who clearly says "I partially agree with the jihadists, men have turned away from the path of God, with homosexuality evil is soaring, and so on, I have a rage against deviance, jihad is still there, it is the form that must change." Again no comment from the director, no contradiction. The scene is cut to connect to the imam "it is necessary to sensitize the people so that they become good Muslims and to promote Islam"...
In fact, we did watch the entire film at Fespaco, although it is true that sometimes there were ill-timed stops on some images, but the film continued. It was painful to see a film in these conditions, it's true, but watching again on my computer, I can say it is the same film that I saw.
That we get along well, in Tunisia we know Dawa which broadly speaking means preaching (see a more precise definition below) ... In Tunisia it is Ansar al-Sharia, those which I show in my film Même Pas Mal| No Harm Done, who say they do not want democracy, they want a theocracy ... Dawa does not differ: "since we must urge people to follow Islam", "to serve God"; hence the use of the term "insidious propaganda" in our text. The film claims to criticize the violence of terrorist groups while saying "it is God who wanted this ... and there must be a reason because he is the one who brought this and that a good Muslim must accept it...". At no time does the director deny this "Dawa movement", he speaks of justifiable or unjustifiable accusations and says that he asks himself a thousand questions…but there are no answers, no criticism or contradictions concerning for example, the homophobic statements of his friend, or the injunction made for women to wear the veil etc ...
You have accused me of disseminating our statement without the consent of my jury, it is good to have erased these defamatory remarks from my FaceBook page. Nevertheless, I wish to reiterate that this text was approved by all the members of the Jury and that it presents itself as an alert in a context where the fight against Islamism (political Islam) in Africa and elsewhere is taking place on all fronts, because it is our future and that of our children that is being played out: Do we want a free and democratic society or will we let those who intend to establish a theocracy take our destiny in hand? I am in favor of the principle of "not letting anything pass".
The meanings of Dawa: The root of the â, in the Quran, has several registers of meaning: call, invitation, invocation of God or prayer. The word da`wa which results from it indicates the invitation, made to the men by God and the prophets, to believe in the true religion (sura14, verse 44). The Prophet Muhammad's mission was to renew this call, which becomes "the call to Islam" or "the call of the Messenger [of God]. Before, it has been admitted that the religion of all prophets is Islam, each prophet having his own call (even the false prophets used the word da`wa to designate their preaching). There are legal implications for defining the kind of punishment inflicted on infidels according to the degree of their knowledge of this call. Muslims, on the other hand, are obliged to invite all those whom the da`wa has not previously reached to embrace Islam: this exhortation must formally precede any combat. It contains, constitutively, an acceptance of rallying to Islam, in a sense of "invitation to the happy life". The meaning of the word logically extended to the very content: the religious law. Thus, some texts use the words da`wa Sunna ("tradition"), Sharia ("religious law") and Dîn ("religion") interchangeably and in equivalence. The term also applies to the community of men who answered the call of the Prophet. We then speak of a "consensus of the call" (ijtima 'al-da'wa). Finally, we can give it a meaning both political and religious, as does Ibn Khaldoun, for whom the da`wa is one of the tools that serve to found a new empire.
Nadia El Fani :
Certain-e-s d'entre vous m'ont demandé ma réponse suite à la publication de SemFilms sur leur blog que je reposte plus bas... Voici donc ma réponse, je les avait laissé libres de poster sur leur blog, je trouvais cela plus fairplay... Ils ne l'ont pas fait... Je persiste et signe...
Voici pourquoi je persiste et signe à propos de Dawa, l'appel à Dieu.
J’ai revu le film et même pris des notes, je ne change pas d'avis. Et j’ai aussi relu notre déclaration à son sujet. Je pense qu’elle est mesurée car elle place notre alerte dans le contexte actuel …
"Le vivre ensemble" comme vous dites ne doit pas laisser de place à la naïveté ni à l’indulgence. Encore une fois, un film se regarde avec ce qu’on nous donne à voir, pas avec des intentions expliquées à postériori… Ce film, je le maintiens, défend la Dawa (prédication), un prosélytisme religieux sans nuances, un appel à suivre la religion à la lettre, sans réserves…
Il s’agit là du cadre d'une compétition officielle dans un festival qui comme nous l’avons rappelé dans notre texte défend certaines valeurs de progrès, de liberté, de mixité, d'émancipation des femmes, etc…
Personne ne dénie à Malik Konaté le droit de faire le film qu’il veut… Mais que penser d'un film dans lequel (et ce ne sont que quelques exemples) :
- c’est dit dans le commentaire Dawa est vue comme une secte, "elle incite les gens à suivre l’Islam, exhorte les gens à être au service de dieu"
-on présente le prosélytisme islamique comme un devoir “inciter les gens à adorer dieu”, on voit d’ailleurs un prédicateur ami du réalisateur aller sur les marchés convaincre les femmes de se voiler et même leur faire des remarques quand ce n’est pas le cas, et on le voit plus tard chez lui avec sa femme entièrement voilée de noir et ne laissant apparaitre que ses yeux,
-on présente lors d'une émission radio le réalisateur comme "un homme de tous les combats islamiques”, et quand un auditeur pose une question sur les leaders de Dawa qui ont été les chefs des terroristes, la question est éludée au profit d’une définition laconique de Dawa par le réalisateur : "qui montre la voie de dieu pour entrer au paradis" puis d’un commentaire du présentateur qui dit Dawa n’est pas mêlée au réseau terroriste, il n’est pas bon de mentir"…
-Le réalisateur ne fait part que d’un malaise et de questions qu’il se pose… Mais ne donne toujours pas d’avis critique envers Dawa…
Vers les 58 à 60 minutes du film il y a de nouveau l’ami du réalisateur, le prédicateur sur les marchés du début qui dit clairement " Je suis en partie d’accord avec les djihadistes, les hommes se sont détournés de la voie de dieu, le mal prend de l’ampleur avec l’homosexualité et j’en passe. J’ai la rage contre les déviances. Le djihad est toujours là, c’est la forme qui doit changer". Là encore pas de commentaire du réalisateur, pas de contradiction. Le plan est coupé pour raccorder sur l’imam "il faut sensibiliser le gens pour qu’ils deviennent des bons musulmans et faire la promotion de l’islam"…
Finalement nous avons bien vu le film en entier au Fespaco même s’il est vrai qu’il avait parfois des arrêts sur images intempestifs, mais le film reprenait. C’était pénible de voir un film dans ces conditions, c’est vrai, mais en le revoyant sur mon ordinateur je peux dire que c’est le même film que j’avais vu.
Que l’on s’entende bien, en Tunisie nous connaissons Dawa qui signifie en gros prédiction (ci-dessous une définition plus précise)... En Tunisie c'est Ansar al-Charia, ce sont ceux que je montre dans mon film Même Pas Mal qui disent qu'ils ne veulent pas de la démocratie, qu'ils veulent une théocratie… Dawa ne dit pas le contraire "puisqu'il faut exhorter les gens à suivre l'Islam", " à se mettre au service de dieu". D'où l'emploi du terme "propagande insidieuse" dans notre texte,
Le film prétend faire une critique de la violence des groupes terroristes tout en disant "que c'est dieu qui a voulu ça… et qu'il doit y avoir une raison puisqu'il a amené ça et qu'en bon musulman on doit accepter ça…". A aucun moment le réalisateur ne renie ce "mouvement Dawa", il parle d'accusations fondées ou infondées et dit qu'il se pose mille questions… mais pas de réponses, ni de critique ou de contradictions concernant par exemple les déclarations homophobes de son ami, ou de l'injonction faites aux femmes de porter le voile etc…
Vous m'aviez soupçonnée d'avoir diffusé notre déclaration sans l'accord de mon jury, c'est bien d'avoir effacé ces propos diffamants de ma page Face Book. Néanmoins je tiens à redire que ce texte avait été approuvé par tous les membres du Jury et qu'il se présent comme une alerte dans un contexte où la lutte contre l'islamisme (l'islam politique) en Afrique et ailleurs se mène sur tous les fronts, car c'est notre avenir et celui de nos enfants qui se joue : Voulons-nous d'une société libre et démocratique ou laisserons-nous ceux qui entendent instaurer une théocratie prendre en main notre destin? Je suis partisane du principe de "ne rien laisser passer".
Significations de Dawa : La racine d.’ â., dans le Coran, a plusieurs registres de signification : appel, invitation, invocation de Dieu ou prière. Le mot da`wa qui en découle désigne l’invitation, faite aux hommes par Dieu et les prophètes, à croire en la vraie religion (sourate 14, verset 44). Le prophète Mahomet a eu pour mission de renouveler cet appel, qui devient « l’appel à l’islam » ou « l’appel de l’Envoyé [de Dieu]. » Auparavant, on aura admis que la religion de tous les prophètes est l’islam, chaque prophète ayant son propre appel (même les faux prophètes ont usé du mot da`wa pour désigner leur prédication). Des implications juridiques interviennent pour définir le genre de châtiment à infliger aux infidèles selon le degré de leur connaissance de cet appel. Les musulmans, quant à eux, sont tenus d’inviter à embrasser l’islam tous ceux que la da`wa n’a pas préalablement atteints : cette exhortation doit précéder formellement tout combat. Elle contient, constitutivement, une acceptation de ralliement à l’islam, dans un sens d’« invitation à la vie bienheureuse ». La signification du mot s’est logiquement étendue au contenu même : la loi religieuse. Aussi certains textes utilisent-ils indifféremment et en équivalence les mots da`wa Sunna (« tradition »), Sharia (« loi religieuse ») et Dîn (« religion »). Le terme s’applique également à la communauté des hommes qui ont répondu à l’appel du Prophète. On parle alors de « consensus de l’appel » (ijtimâ’ al-da’wa) Enfin on peut lui donner un sens à la fois politique et religieux comme le fait Ibn Khaldoun, pour qui la da`wa est un des outils qui servent à fonder un empire nouveau.
Published in Kapitalas.com, 7 March 2019
Translated by Beti Ellerson and republished with permission.
[En français ci-après]
I have known Fespaco since 1993, during the time of my first short films. Since then, my films have always been part of the festival selection, while in my own country [Tunisia, which hosts the JCC], never. This is to highlight my great affection for Fespaco during these past 25 years. In 2013 I was very proud to receive the Grand Prix for Documentary Film for my film Même pas mal | No Harm Done, even as I continued to be ostracized in Tunisia. With no pun intended I will say that the old adage "No one is a prophet in her country" applies perfectly to my case.
In 1993 and 1995, the filmmakers of the short film of which we were part, had already fought battles to be better recognized by the organizers of Fespaco. How many of us spent our first nights at the festival on the hotel lobby sofas, for lack of allocated hotel rooms, while other non-filmmaker guests had luxurious ones?
Outlining this background is to recall that already in the past filmmakers had protested the conditions in which they were received. Having laid out this preamble I want to tell why today I titled this text "My last Fespaco". It is indeed the latest one that I have attended, but probably the last I will go to if nothing is done to improve the organization of this great festival of our continent and for which I have an immense affection.
So I was present at the fiftieth anniversary of Fespaco in 2019 at the invitation of the organizers as president of the documentary jury for feature and short films in official competition. I am passing on the organizational details inherent in the financial and practical difficulties of our continent as far as travel is concerned. Everyone knows that coming to Fespaco requires a good dose of energy! It is not on this topic that I am going to elaborate, as it relates to the events of this edition.
The security directives were drastic and each of us could understand this in view of the different protection systems put in place because of the threat of attacks that exist everywhere on our planet. On the other hand, being shoved or abused by the over-zealous security force, is something that I do not accept. I do not think it was too difficult to give specific instructions to the security services to avoid any mistreatment of guests at the entrance to the opening and closing ceremony, for example, which was my experience and that of other jury members.
This point being made, I must today say exactly where my deepest dissatisfaction and that of my jury comes from. From the very first day, it was not possible for us to have a programme for the 36 short and long films that we were assigned to view in order to choose the award winners. In addition, the catalog was not ready until three days after the beginning of the festival, and so we did not have the synopses and fact sheets of the films on hand, nor was a coherent viewing schedule established. Our jury was unified throughout, and after three days, together we went to the festival administration in order to secure a place to view the films that we were not able to see in the screening venues with the public. It is obvious that at the rate of more than six films per day to view, fatigue taking its toll, our patience had reached its limits more than once, and on top of that, there was the deprogramming in our category, of the film Amal directed by Mohamed Siam.
On the last day, summoned to the Fespaco headquarters, a few hours before the closing ceremony, all the official juries met under the leadership of the General Delegate and the director of Fespaco. Seeing that we were not told anything specific about the progression of the announcement of the winners, as president, I expressed our desire as a jury to go on stage, so that we could each announce our award winners and summarize in a few sentences the basis of our choices. This is an expectation of the filmmakers who are award winners as well as those who are not.
Moreover, and I did not hide it, we had a text to read about a Malian film called Dawa, l'appel à dieu that made a negative impression on us. At that moment the festival director and the delegate at the minimum granted our request, that the president of the fiction jury and myself, to go on stage during the ceremony. Was it the presence of heads of state at the closing ceremony, that to our surprise we were ultimately not invited to go on stage. And our Documentary Jury was barely mentioned! The announcement of our award winners was replete with errors, especially concerning the film that won the Golden Poulain, which the presenter announced as a male Kenyan director when it was a Kenyan woman director. We awarded a special mention to the film N'Tarabana by François Woukoache, though it was not announced. When I tried to go on stage to rectify the errors, I was violently taken to task by security, ordering me to go back. When I went to speak to the press to note all these shortcomings on our awards list, I was taken to task by people of the organization who told me that I did not have the right to speak to the press and summoned the security to throw me out. When they grabbed me violently by the arm, I asked the press to film and photograph what they were doing to me; they were told that I was nobody and that they were going to make me leave.
I must add that the person in charge of the official jury, threw oil on the fire regarding the security services' reaction to me. I was finally able to free myself. Trembling, I returned to my seat, wanting only one thing, to leave this space. Our Awards List has not been picked up by the press, is it because the documentary does not interest anyone or is it because the journalists did not have access to the details of the awards of our section? During that evening the award-winning filmmakers did not had the opportunity to express themselves. Fespaco is a film festival, I do not deny politicians the right to be present and to take an interest in our films, we need their support and especially their financial support, but that night it was cinema that was the absentee.
We were so happy to award The Golden Etalon de Yennenga for Documentary to Aïcha Leterrier of Burkina Faso, a young and talented filmmaker, for the film Le loup d'or de Balolé. Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to hand it to her personally. We all came home exhausted from this festival but nevertheless proud of our work on the Jury. That is why we wanted to report these types of occurrences. It at the present in Africa, and of course I include North Africa, that one should be capable of accepting criticism in order to be able to evolve. To criticize Fespaco is neither to offend nor to insult the organizers, it is to tell them face-to-face all the things that after fifty years of existence, are no longer acceptable as it relates to the recurring shortcomings of the organization. For me it was my last Fespaco.
(What I had to say if I had been allowed to go on stage) Statement about the film Dawa, l'appel à dieu by Malik Konaté (Mali):
Today on our continent like everywhere else in the world, we are confronted with a danger that is no longer a threat but a reality that faces us. I speak of obscurantism, fundamentalism, terrorism, stemming from an ideology which in the name of religion and in particular Islam, contest all the values of progress, modernity, diversity and the emancipation of women. It is time for resistance, it is time to stand up. Democrat, a lover of freedom, and in a spirit of vigilance—as was mentioned in the opening speeches, my jury and I wanted to alert Fespaco about a documentary film called Dawa which offers a complacent and short-sighted showcase to a sect of which, according to some, barbaric atrocities were committed in Mali since 2014. The cinema is a weapon, certainly everyone can use it freely, but we wanted, especially in these days when Burkina Faso faces the harmful effects of these small groups, to denounce this kind of insidious and dangerous propaganda film, which is contrary to the objectives of Fespaco. Follow the debate regarding the above comment: Nadia El Fani: response to SemFilms.org | réponse à SemFilms.org - Dawa, l’appel à Dieu
Nadia El Fani: Mon dernier Fespaco Publié le 7 mars 2019. Kapitalas.com
Je connais le Fespaco depuis 1993, époque de mes premiers courts-métrages, depuis, mes films y ont toujours été sélectionnés alors que dans mon propre pays, jamais. C'est dire à quel point depuis 25 ans mon affection pour le Fespaco est grande. En 2013 j'étais très fière d'y recevoir le Grand prix du documentaire pour mon film MEME PAS MAL alors même que je continuais à être ostracisée en Tunisie. Sans jeu de mot je dirai que le vieil adage "Nul n'est prophète en son pays" s'applique parfaitement à mon cas.
En 1993 et 1995, les cinéastes du court-métrage que nous étions, avions déjà mené des batailles pour être mieux considérés par les organisateurs du Fespaco. Combien de nous passaient leurs premières nuits au festival sur les canapés des halls d'hôtel, faute de chambres d'hôtels attribuées alors que d'autres invités non cinéastes en avait de luxueuses….
Si je fais cette historique c'est aussi pour rappeler que déjà par le passé des cinéastes avait protesté sur les conditions dans lesquelles ils étaient reçus. Ce préambule étant établi je veux raconter pourquoi aujourd'hui j'ai titré ce texte "Mon dernier Fespaco". C'est effectivement le dernier auquel j'ai assisté, mais probablement le dernier auquel j'assisterais si rien n'est fait pour améliorer l'organisation de ce grand festival de notre continent et pour lequel j'ai une immense affection.
Je me suis donc rendue pour le cinquantenaire au Fespaco 2019 à l'invitation des organisateurs en tant que présidente du jury documentaire longs-métrages et court-métrages en compétition officielle. Je passe les détails organisationnels inhérents aux difficultés financières et pratiques de notre continent pour ce qui concernent les voyages… Chacun sait que venir au Fespaco demande une bonne dose d'énergie ! Ce n'est effectivement pas sur ce sujet que je vais m'étendre pour dire ce que j'ai à exprimer sur cette session.
Les consignes de sécurité étaient drastiques et chacun de nous pouvait le comprendre au vu des différents systèmes de protection mis en place à cause des menaces d'attentats qui planent aujourd'hui partout sur notre planète. En revanche être bousculée, voir même violentée par des services de sécurité un peu trop zélés c'est quelque chose que je n'accepte pas. Je pense qu'il n'était pas difficile de donner des consignes aux services d'ordre afin qu'ils ne maltraitent personne aux entrées des cérémonie d'ouverture et de clôture par exemple… Ce qui a été mon cas ainsi que d'autres membres de Jury.
Ce point étant fait je me dois aujourd'hui de dire très exactement d'où vient mon plus profond mécontentement et celui de mon Jury. Dès le premier jour il ne nous a pas été possible d'avoir un programme des 36 films courts et longs confondus que nous nous devions de visionner pour donner un palmarès. De plus le catalogue n'a été prêt que trois jours après le début du festival, et donc nous n'avions pas en main les synopsis et fiches techniques des films pas plus que n’était établi un agenda de visionnage cohérent. Notre jury a toujours été solidaire et nous avons entrepris de remonter tous ensemble jusqu'à la direction du festival pour obtenir au bout de 3 jours un endroit pour visionner les films que nous ne pouvions pas voir en salle avec le public. Il est évident qu'au rythme de plus de six films par jour à visionner, la fatigue aidant, notre patience a atteint ses limites plus d'une fois, encore plus face à la déprogrammation dans notre compétition du film Amal réalisé par Mohamed Siam.
Le dernier jour, convoqués au siège du Fespaco, soit quelques heures avant la cérémonie de clôture, tous les jurys officiels se retrouvent réunis sous la houlette du Délégué Général et du directeur du Fespaco. Voyant qu'on ne nous dit rien de précis sur le déroulé de l'annonce des palmarès, je fais savoir en tant que présidente notre désir de monter sur scène, tous les jurés, afin que nous annoncions chacun notre tour, notre palmarès et pouvoir ainsi en quelques phrases résumées, dire les attendus de nos prix. Cela est plus juste pour les cinéastes qui sont primés ainsi que pour ceux qui ne le sont pas.
Par ailleurs et je ne l'ai pas cache, nous avions un texte à lire au sujet d'un film Malien intitulé Dawa, l'appel à dieu qui nous avait interpellés négativement… à ce moment-là le directeur et le délégué nous accordent à minima le président du Jury fiction et moi-même, à monter sur scène lors de la cérémonie. Est-ce la présence des chefs d'état à la cérémonie de clôture, mais à notre grande surprise nous n'avons finalement pas été conviés à monter sur la scène. Et notre Jury du Documentaire n'a carrément pas été mentionné ! Notre palmarès a été égrené avec des erreurs, notamment concernant le film qui a obtenu le poulain d'or, que le présentateur annoncé comme un réalisateur Kenyan alors qu'il s'agissait d'une réalisatrice Kenyane… Nous avions attribué une mention spéciale au film N'Tarabana de François Woukoache, elle n'a pas été annoncée. Quand j'ai tenté de monter sur la scène pour rectifier j'ai été violemment prise à partie par la sécurité, qui m'a intimé l'ordre de redescendre. Quand je suis allée parler à la presse pour noter tous ces manquements sur notre palmarès, J'ai été prise à partie par des gens de l'organisation qui m'ont dit que je n'avais pas le droit de parler à la presse et ont demandé à la sécurité de me jeter dehors. Lorsqu'ils m'ont attrapé violemment par les bras j'ai demandé à la presse de filmer et de photographier ce qu'on était en train de me faire on leur a rétorqué que je n'étais personne et qu'ils allaient me sortir.
Je dois ajouter que la personne chargée du jury officiel s'est permise de jeter de l'huile sur le feu auprès du service d'ordre à mon sujet. J'ai fini par me dégager, je suis revenue tremblante à mon siège et je ne voulais plus qu'une chose, quitter cette salle.
Notre palmarès n'a pas été repris par la presse, est-ce parce que le documentaire n'intéresse personne ou est-ce parce que les journalistes n'ont pas eu entre les mains les détails des prix de notre section?... Durant cette soirée les cinéastes primés n'ont pas eu l'occasion de s'exprimer… Le Fespaco est festival de cinéma, je ne dénie pas aux politiques le droit d'être présents et de s'intéresser à nos films, nous avons besoin de leur soutien et plus particulièrement de leur soutien financier, mais ce soir-là c'est bien le cinéma qui était le grand absent…
Nous étions pourtant tellement heureux d'attribuer l'étalon d'or de Yennenga du documentaire à Aïcha LETERRIER du Burkina Faso, une réalisatrice jeune et talentueuse pour le film LE LOUP D'OR DE BALOLE. Nous n'avons malheureusement pas eu l'occasion de pouvoir le lui remettre en mains propres. Nous sommes tous rentrés épuisés de ce festival mais néanmoins fiers de notre travail au sein du Jury. C'est pourquoi nous tenions à faire ces mises au point. Il s'agit aujourd'hui en Afrique, et bien entendu j'englobe l'Afrique du Nord, d'être capables d'accepter les critiques pour pouvoir évoluer. Critiquer le Fespaco , ce n'est ni offenser, ni insulter les organisateurs, c'est leur dire en face tout ce qui n'est plus admissibles après cinquante années d'existence sur des défauts récurrents d'organisation. Pour moi c'était mon dernier Fespaco.
(Ce que je devais dire si j'avais pu monter sur scène) Déclaration au sujet du film " Dawa, l'appel à dieu", de Malik Konaté (Mali) :
Aujourd'hui sur notre continent comme partout ailleurs dans le monde, nous faisons face à un danger qui n'est plus une menace mais une réalité qui nous affronte. Je parle de l'obscurantisme, l'intégrisme, le terrorisme, issus d'une idéologie qui au nom de la religion et en particulier l'islam combat toutes les valeurs de progrès, de modernité, de mixité et d'émancipation des femmes… L'heure est à la résistance, il est temps d'être debout. Démocrate, amoureux de la liberté, et dans un esprit de vigilance, comme il en a été fait mention dans les discours d'ouverture, mon jury et moi-même avons tenu à alerter le Fespaco au sujet d'un film documentaire intitulé Dawa qui offre une vitrine complaisante et sans distance à une secte dont ont été issus, pour certains, les barbares qui ont commis des atrocités au Mali à partir de 2014. Le cinéma est une arme, certes chacun peut s'en servir en toute liberté, mais nous tenions, particulièrement en ces jours où le Burkina Faso fait face aux effets néfastes de ces groupuscules, à dénoncer ce genre de film de propagande insidieuse et dangereuse, à l'opposé des objectifs du Fespaco. Suivez le débat concernant le commentaire ci-dessus: Nadia El Fani: response to SemFilms.org | réponse à SemFilms.org - Dawa, l’appel à Dieu
Nadia El Fani is a Franco-Tunisian filmmaker, scriptwriter and producer. She mainly directs documentaries.
She directed her first short film, Pour le plaisir | For the pleasure in 1990 and created her own production company Z'yeux Noirs Movies in Tunisia. As she is very close to women activist groups, she directed her first documentary in 1993 Femmes leaders du Maghreb |Women Leaders of the Maghreb and then, Tanitez-moi. Followed by four short fiction films, notably Fifty-fifty mon amour,and the production of films by other cineastes, such as the co-production of a long documentary with Canada.
Nadia El Fani settled in Paris in 2002 for the post production of her first feature Bedwin Hacker, of which she is also producer. In 2005 she participates in a 15-episode series of short films made by filmmakers from other countries, entitled Paris la métisse. Ouled Lénine is released in April 2008, and in 2011, Laïcité Inch'allah (Ni Allah, Ni Maître!) Secularism Inch'allah (Neither Allah nor Master!), a feature documentary. In 2012 she completed Même pas mal, co-directed with Alina Isabel Pérez. In 2013, she co-directed Nos seins, nos armes! with Caroline Fourest, a documentary about the FEMEN movement for France 2.
Bio-filmography: nadiaelfani.blogspot.com
[Français]
Nadia El Fani est une réalisatrice, scénariste et productrice franco-tunisienne. Elle réalise notamment des documentaires.
Elle réalise son premier court métrage Pour le plaisir en 1990 et crée sa propre société de Production Z'yeux Noirs Movies en Tunisie. Très proche des groupes de femmes militantes elle tourne en 1993 un premier documentaire Femmes leaders du Maghreb puis Tanitez-moi. Suivront la réalisation de quatre courts-métrages de fictions dont Fifty-fifty mon amour et la production de films d'autres cinéastes dont une co-production avec le Canada pour un long-métrage documentaire.
Nadia El Fani s'installe à Paris en 2002 pour la post-production de son premier long-métrage Bedwin Hacker, dont elle est également productrice. En 2005 elle participe à une série de 15 films courts réalisés par des réalisateurs étrangers Paris la métisse. En avril 2008, sort Ouled Lénine, et en 2011, Laïcité Inch'allah (Ni Allah, Ni Maître!) un long-métrage documentaire. En 2012 elle achève Même pas mal, coréalisé avec Alina Isabel Pérez. En 2013, elle co-réalise avec Caroline Fourest Nos seins, nos armes ! , un documentaire sur le mouvement Femen pour France 2.
Bio-filmographie : nadiaelfani.blogspot.com Links | Liens
‘‘Même pas mal’’ de Nadia El Fani : Le retour d’une guerrière. Fawz Ben Ali. 13 Nov 2017. Kapitalis.
Cheryl Dunye
The Watermelon Woman (Feat. Cheryl Dunye of Queen Sugar). 10 October 2017. Theextraordinarynegros.
VIDEO – EXTRAITS – CLIPS
Angela Aquereburu
YoBo Studios on her dramedy Hospitalite about a doctor and a traditional healer. YouTube.
Claire Diao, Rahmatou Keïta, Aïcha Macky
La chronique cinéma avec Claire Diao d"Awotele : Le Niger à l'honneur avec les films " Zin'naariya !" de Rahmatou Keïta ou "L'arbre sans fruit" d'Aicha Macky à l'occasion du festival Afrikamera 2017. YouTube.
Watch Films by Womxn Directors, Girls in Film in Mauritius, RECIDAK 2018 - La remise de distinctions | Presentation of Awards, Visions de femmes, Queen of Zambian TV Becky Ngom, Joburg Film Festival Women’s Event
African Female Filmmakers, Rungano Nyoni, June Givanni, Le Grand Débat: Un autre visage du cinema français : Claire Diao, Aset Malanda, Nina Melo, Josza Anjembe, Jihan El-Tahri,
African Film and Media -Three Women Making Films in Zimbabwe -Nollywood and Women, Stephanie Dongmo, Rwandan Women in Film, A Conversation with Tala Hadid, Afrique Plurielle TV5Monde : Alimata Salambéré, Dada Stella Kitoga, Monique Mbeka Phoba, In My Father’s Village by Tapiwa Kapuya
Stéphanie Dongmo, Nadja Harek, Oshosheni Hiveluah, Fatou Kandé Senghor, Laureates: Mashariki Film Festival Awards 2017 (Rwanda), Laureates: Zambia Film and Television Awards (ZAFTAs) 2017
Véro Tshanda Beya, Félicité (Alain Gomis) analyse, Issa Rae, Juliet Yaa Asantewaa Asante, Khady Sylla in Memoriam, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Rumbi Katedza, The Republic – a pilot series by Nicole Amarteifio
Excerpted from/extrait du FIFF Festival International du Film de Fribourg 2016 – Roundtable/Table ronde: Etre réalisatrice en Afrique | To be a woman filmmaker in Africa - 13 03 2016. Translation from French by Beti Ellerson
Franco-Burkinabe Claire Diao, moderator of the roundtable (10:30)
My objective as a journalist who focuses on African cinema is to de-compartmentalise all of the linguistic spaces, to talk about Africa from Morocco to Comoros, eliminating the frontiers between Arabophone, Francophone, Anglophone and Lusophone…
Claire Diao: Introduction of the four filmmakers (11:30)
Nadia El Fani, Angèle Diabang, Pocas Pascoal, Rama Thiaw, have directed documentary, fiction, long and short films. Nadia was born in Paris and raised in Tunisia, Angèle was born and raised in Dakar in Senegal, Rama Thiaw was born in Nouakchott in Mauritania and raised in Senegal, Pocas Pascoal was born and raised in Luanda in Angola.
Claire Diao (12:32)
The question may appear a bit silly, but I like to pose it nonetheless - At what point in your life did you realise that you were a woman?
Pocas Pascoal (12:47)
When we begin to experience how other people see us, when you do not have the same rights as a girl as a boy does, that there were games that boys played and that girls played. There are societal rules that indicate that you are a woman… that experience lasted a long time. Very young, one realises that girls have certain roles that are assigned to them, I realised this rather young.
Rama Thiaw (14:30)
It came to me rather late. Coming from Mauritania I was called dirty Arab when I arrived in Senegal at five years old. Arriving in France two years later I was called a dirty black. I only realised when in France that I was black…
I was always dressed as a boy, in clothes that were handed down from my brother with only a year difference in age. Hence we were treated mainly the same, I did not have this difference in terms of gender in our family.
I realised really as an adult this notion of woman, an example, when I presented the film Boul Fallé (2009) at Créteil, people responded that I am a woman but there are only men in my film. But I film what I am interested in. I thought, “we are still at this point?” It was there that I realised things from another angle…
Angèle Diabang (16:48)
That is not an easy question, I would say, as Rama while growing up I did not have this notion of gender. I grew up among a lot of women; I was a person. What I realised very young was that I was an orphan, that was really my feeling of difference between others and myself, that is what I lacked, and not between boy and girl. And when playing in the neighbourhood where boys and girls intermingled, there was not a distinction made. I went to a boarding school and there were girls of all ages and I never posed the question of gender.
This notion developed in my mind when I entered in the realm of art, when I began to do films, since I did films that focused on women, and was asked, “oh it was because you are a woman, because you are a feminist. But that was not my motivation for doing films about women, for a feminist cause, but rather because they are topics that interest me. But that question was always repeated to me “but you are a feminist.” I am feminist, but why must I wear this hat when I do this film. I can do films about women without it being for a cause.
Nadia El Fani (18:34)
As a little girl I was called a tomboy…it was then that I realised that I was a girl. My French grandfather worked as a mechanic for the railroad and would say to me “you will be an engineer”. But more particularly my difference was being a mixed-race child of a French mother and Tunisian father. But above all to have a communist father. The party was banned, hence operated clandestinely. My family being a bit on the fringes of society, even very engaged within it. I always claimed my feminism.
But not to be against something, but for women’s rights, as long as they have not been won it is to continue to fight. I always felt myself a woman, I have always wanted to be a woman, even if others felt there was a masculine aspect. It is more enjoyable, less difficult to be a woman because, oddly there are less things to prove within society, to be a man one must become virile, whereas, for us, femininity is a state of being, so it is easier. That comes from my provocative side.
Audience (21:31)
What touches or hurts you the most, negative attitudes/comments about race or gender?
Rama Thiaw (22:25)
I am a human being first and foremost. Before gender, sexuality or origin, I am a human being. I fight for my specificity. The day when we see ourselves as specific human beings we will have won. That is when humanity will have won. Capitalism divides us in different struggles—gender, sexual orientation, race—rather than to reason on the human level, globally…There is no hierarchy in racial and gender insults, they both hurt. Universal feminism can also hurt me. The notion of femininity is cultural. You will note that Angèle and I come from Senegal, we have a very different notion of feminism in Senegal... A forceful woman must fight, which in the west this violence is attributed to men. In Senegal women are the strong sex. They do the hard work; they are the ones who manage things. Men are afraid of women within the household. However, we must conquer the public space. Women handle the money; there is no problem of equality in parliament. On the other hand, we must fight to have access to abortion, because of cultural attitudes based on religion.
You may find this funny but westerns influenced me to make films…There was nothing interesting in the Tunisian programming on television. So we watched these westerns and others. I was passionate about them, about Charlie Chapin and black and white films, even Buster Keaton…My parents were film enthusiasts, they were intellectuals and we lived above a movie house. And as children we were somewhat rascals and slipped inside to watch the films. I always wanted to make films. My parents did not have the means to send me to film school in Paris and there were none in Tunisia. They wanted me to study law, I did that, as well as history and even nursing, never really completing them, and then I had the opportunity to work with an American film production and started that way…I decided to realise my dream, I created a production company and made films.
Angèle Diabang (27:44)
Growing up with a lot of restrictions, in a closed environment, in terms of television watching, we were obliged to choose, rather than to watch what we wanted, it was very difficult for me…Since this was something to which I did not have access, I developed a vivid imagination and quickly guessed the plot and I understood rapidly the process of story development…
Claire Diao (31:31)
To note Pocas was the first camerawoman in Angola!
That is true, which is how I started. Television began late in Angola, there was cinema but it was not accessible to all, but rather to the Portuguese colonialists, and to a certain elite, my family did not have access to it, we listened to the radio. I grew up with the telenovellas of the radio. It was in 1977-78 that television emerged in Angola. There was televised news, and gradually films were broadcast. The first cinema was Russian and Cuban propaganda films; as Angola was Marxist for a long time. And the cinema of Sarah Maldoror, who was the first woman to do a film. The first film about Angola was made by a woman, there was no cinema before this. It was against colonialism, it was a very political cinema. It was a cinema that was found in the working-class districts.
Claire Diao (34:05)
So in retrospect, to see a pioneering woman who was also a role model.
Pocas Pascoal (34:08)
Definitely! She was a role model and continues to be. Her name is mentioned on every street corner. And in addition she was the spouse of the revolutionary leader who created the MPLA party. She was the reference, it was a revolution! To respond to the question, how I came to cinema. I liked photography, I then worked at the television station, as a very young woman, I became the first woman camera operator. I had a desire to work with the image, which was impossible as there was a very long war. And hence there was no cinema until 2002. After Sarah Maldoror it was a long interim.
I watched films with my grandmother. And in Senegal it is quite amusing, in the movie theatres it is a spectacle in itself, as it is very animated with people responding to what they are viewing. We went to see the Kung Fu films with friends and siblings, we looked at horror films... On the other hand with my mother who was very interested in culture, we did not have the right to watch television, we watched films in black and white such as Charlie Chaplin, which I hated. My mother wanted to explain to us about World War II...She had us read Mein Kamp because she wanted us to understand the mind of the people, how they could be swept into Nazism… Also we learned about the Korean War and the Vietnam War. And we watched Apocalyse Now. I was shocked by it. But I did not know what it was called; I knew I wanted to do something like that. I did not know that was cinema. I wanted to be a poet…I was able to draw. Later I studied economics, since at the time I had utopian ideas wanting to change the world. I then realised that it would not be by economics but perhaps by the image…
Claire Diao (39:55)
Do you see solidarity among women filmmakers—internationally, regionally, locally?
Nadia, you endured a great deal of attacks because of the film that you made, did you feel support, solidarity as a filmmaker?
Nadia El Fani (40:24)
It’s a bit difficult to talk about the attacks that we endure. I had chosen to return to work in Tunisia…I wanted to work in the heart of my society, for a long time I felt that I was Tunisian and nothing else and I want to do my films there. Right away I was involved in Tunisian associations, that is part of how I was raised, and for things to advance they must be supported. The Tunisian filmmakers association was very strong at the time, there was a boycott again Carthage in 1980 initiated by the association; hence there was a political engagement. We created the African filmmakers guild in Paris though I did not agree as I thought initiatives should come from the continent—however my attitudes have evolved since then… Solidarity, I don’t know….
Angele Diabang (42:50)
I think it is difficult to say there is not solidarity when we are in a field where it is difficult to work alone. Trying to find funding, to find a group of men who are willing to work with us and to respect our artistic vision is already difficult to deal with, to find one’s place as a woman, who is not married, who must travel, be away for several weeks of filming, who cannot participate in the social events of the family because she must focus on her work, that is all difficult to deal with. How then are we able to support other African women filmmakers, and the issues that this status engenders? There are associations that exist in order to encourage and support these kinds of initiatives. Yes I attempt to do this on an individual level. Am I bad for not taking the time and effort to support others with their individual problems? I no longer have the strength and I have no one to lift me up when I fall. Do I have the strength to deal with all the problems of African cinema?
Rama Thiaw (46:00)
I am somewhere between both of you. No I do not think there is solidarity, between women, between African women, and between Africans, in general. It is a complicated question… There is a competition, that does not allow it, since there is a place for only one. I don’t believe in this, I position myself on the left of left. I try to be one who brings things together. I initiated a letter to the president of the Francophonie, Michaëlle Jean, because she was a woman, in the name of African women, but very few women signed on. I contacted Fepaci, no response. Though it is an association that is suppose to represent the filmmakers from the continent. A combat is like a marathon, one must reserve some energy or there will be none left. We have difficulty as women that is not talked about, that women must put their careers on hold to support their husband’s ,but they do not do the same for women. We struggle alone. What also exists is the mentality, each woman for herself, that each must succeed instead of the other. The struggles accumulate. The hope is to have the strength to do one’s own work and have some left to contribute to the development of our society. I don’t know if we succeed but we will try. We will create a production association in Senegal, right Angèle!
Angèle Diabang (48:10)
…I imagine that rather than think I want to make it instead of the other, there is the attitude that I just want to make it. In countries like here, where there is more means, one feels less of a competition, because the cake is bigger and there is a piece for everybody where with us, there is perhaps not even a cake but a piece. And we say I want that piece. That is why I say it is not the individualism, but that one wants to just do one’s film. Wanting to do my film does not mean that it is in place of Nadia doing hers, or Rama doing hers, or Pocas doing hers. No, I just want to be able to make my film. And that is the difference in being in an environment where there is almost nothing, and to do something with this almost nothing, and being in an environment where one may choose. Hence, it is not one against another, but that each wants to do something. And as Rama said, since there is the system that pits one against the other, I just want to do my film to have a piece.
Pocas Pascoal (49:48)
I have been in a lot of situations where women support other women, on all levels and internationally. In 2013 I met Nadia, three women were in competition at Fespaco, my film was not on 35 mm but digital and was withdrawn from competition… I was rather timid but Nadia, who I did not know at the time, supported me and said “we will go to the press with your story”. And in fact it became the film to see and won an important prize: the European Union special prize. I think there are those who are very much in solidarity. It is true that we are forced to think about ourselves, rather than for the cause, or to challenge things—since our cinema is very political, or give support to others. There is solidarity, and a great deal among women.
Nadia El Fani (53:05)
I am glad that you brought this up. Not to pat myself on the back but to talk about the men’s reaction. Those that were in competition, those with whom I fought in solidarity for many years, friends, colleagues. I was also insulted by some of them, it was violent. And on top of it, I also had a film in competition, so it is not about having the time. But when I am in solidarity with Pocas, it benefits me as well. When one struggles in the combat of others, it is for one’s own benefit as well. We cannot advance with the attitude that I have to be the one, it is a struggle for all. When we lead the struggle for all, we carry our own as well. Individuality is not the same as individualism. We are all irreplaceable; it is not about megalomania. It is true that in the struggle there is egoism… In filmmaking there is a team effort, and of course when one directs a team, there is a leader, but the leader should be fair. And to defend the cause of others is fundamental. There was a real injustice. The president of the jury was a woman cineaste. I went to talk to everybody, they all knew me. The reaction of the men was shocking, to imagine that for them to think that if their film in competition could have a better chance if the film was removed, the violence; that was frightening!
Pocas Pascoal (55:45)
The number of men who signed the petition was minimal. They refused. But it was for everyone, not just for me, but for everyone, for the cause. Thanks to this struggle, they announced that this would be the last year that this rule would apply. The called to make sure I was present because they would make the announcement. When in Cannes it has been done for some time.
Nadia El Fani (56:33)
I want to note as well that when my film was refused by Carthage [Film Festival], I wrote an open letter to them. Well I recall that there was a time when filmmakers were capable of boycotting festivals, stating that they will not attend because of a refusal to show a film. This solidarity does not cost much, though it has a great impact, but I did not get that support.
Angele Diabang (57:18)
I want to clarify that I did not say that I am against being supportive. However, one cannot reproach someone because they do not become involved in a cause. It is not because we are African filmmakers we must support others. I am not talking about myself, because whoever is familiar with my work knows that I am very active in Senegal, even putting my career on the line. I am president of theSociété sénégalaise du droit d'auteur (Senegalese copyright association), which I do without remuneration…I am saying that one should not be criticised for not automatically being engaged in the cause of others, since she may be dealing with the myriad situations regarding her own life and work…
Audience (59:35)
Professional recognition, what has been an important moment for you?
Nadia El Fani (59:58)
Interesting, as we are moving away from the discussion about being a woman filmmaker, that’s okay! I have always done what one would call polemical films, or in fact, films that did not initially find an audience in Tunisia or in the Arab world. My films were directed at my society, and by extension the Arab and African world. I would say I have a home at Fespaco, where my films have always been selected, but to the contrary, not in Tunisia.
When Neither Allah, nor Master! was finally recognised! What is recognition? To be recognised by the press, the media? Yes, it was interesting to finally receive an award, I don’t have many, perhaps special mentions, but never as far as obtaining an award. It’s amusing because, I am usually criticised because of my commitment, and here I am awarded for it!...
Claire Diao (1:01:37)
And Rama whose film was awarded the Critics Prize, category forum the Berlinale 2016.
Rama Thiaw (1:01:50)
No, not really!!!...
Claire Diao (1:02:06)
It could be recognition from a family member on social media!
Rama Thiaw (1:01:37)
…I would say that among us I am the one who has made the fewest films. Even though I began around the time as Angèle some 10 years ago. I have only made two films; I can’t really talk about recognition. I can only say that I am happy to have completed this film, which took six years. So when my father posted his congratulations on Facebook, after pouting for ten years that I did not pursue economics and become a banker, I felt I did accomplish something. One cannot say that because I made two films…no…I have a lot of work to do.
Nadia el Fani (1:03:04)
Do not be too modest, be happy about these accomplishments!
Claire Diao (1:03:10)
But one must know how to savour these moments of recognition!
Pocas Poscoal (1:03:21)
Yes, a lot. I have made other documentary films, but not with awards, but with this one [Alda & Maria]. There is a pride, it talks about Angola, and with it there is an Angolan woman in the world that is now talked about. At a festival in Los Angeles it received an award and the response to the film was very powerful. And of course in Angola. I also began directing later. As I stated I was editor. It has only been 10 years, so I do not have a lot of work behind me, but it will come.
Claire Diao (1:08:26)
We have talked about being a woman filmmaker, about solidarity, and now I would like to discuss the part about being a woman filmmaker in Africa. Some of you may have watched in the category New Territories, the film Mère-bi (The Mother of all) by Ousmane William Mbaye about his mother Annette Mbaye d’Erneville, the first professional journalist in Senegal, who was married to a professional man and raised four children. One moment she recounts that she travelled a great deal, produced many stories and her husband demanded that she return to work as a teacher, in other words that she “return to her place.” There was a blow up, and then a divorce. There is a particularity about your work in Africa, even though you may work between France and your respective country, in that there is the expectation that the woman takes care of the household and raise the children. You are also mothers, so the question that I would like to pose: Is family life compatible with a filmmaking career?
Nadia El Fani (1:09:49)
It is totally incompatible, that is clear. We have much more difficulty finding the time than men to do our work. It is much more difficult to leave one’s children to go to work, especially when they are small. I have only one child, a daughter who is now 25 years old. I saw the men who travelled to festivals, conferences, to whatever event. I was able to only do so only once a month. It was very difficult for me and for the men they had no problem to go here and there. My male counterparts had their wives to take care of the children. I definitely know what it is like as I have lived it. My particularity, especially as it relates to Tunisia, is that I am homosexual and the father of my child as well. We have never lived together. And I raised her basically alone. And it is not because he is homosexual that he acts better than other men regarding his child. He was macho, misogynous, he did not cared for her when I was not there. My mother, who is French, came to Tunisia when she retired and helped me a great deal, as well as my entourage of friends— women’s solidarity worked well in that regard, my friends took care of my daughter when needed. I think it is also difficult for the children, but at the same time there is a certain pride to have a mother who works in this field which is rather unique. For a long time my daughter refused to come to watch my films, now it is better. For her these films were the reason that separated her from her mother… And even at home I was cloistered in my office for long periods working on a project. It is a reason for living, not a profession. We are ready to make sacrifices, as are men, and we do it.
Pocas Poscoal (1:13:08)
It is very difficult. I was an editor for a long time, and there are also long working hours. Several times I brought my children to the editing room. There are a lot of guilty feelings also. Even when there was a chance to take a vacation, there is the question of taking the children and finishing the film, when working independently. My husband had a salaried position, hence working everyday. It is very difficult. There are no set hours. When I started working as a filmmaker, my children were a bit older, sixteen, fifteen years old. I could leave them alone and they could take care of themselves, and I could also travel for a few days. When my children were younger it was very difficult to travel. My children are very proud of me. There is no reproach about why I was absent. There is more for me a sense of guilt of not being able to give the maximum time to your children.
Rama Thiaw (1:14:48)
It is a sacrifice. It is not a profession, between quotes, “for a woman”. I think this is a reason why there is less coalescing among women because there is not the time to go to smoke a cigar in the club and talk about the next film. [Laughter in the audience]. Perhaps I was lucky. When I separated from my son’s father when he was two years old, I was still a student. I was used to keeping a charged scheduled, working on the weekend, attending classes, and caring for my son. I was a brave mother! I became disenchanted navigating between Senegal and France, on location and elsewhere, it became difficult to hold it all together. What is not discussed is the precariousness of this work as a woman, with parents from a modest background, without a man, without support. It is more difficult than poverty; between instability and poverty, a choice must be made. An anecdote: a young French woman asked me, “what do you do to live?” and my response, “I don’t really.” She replied, “well my dear you should do as I do, find a man to take care of you!” And I said, “no thank you.”
I was between Paris and Dakar and I made the decision to settle in Dakar to create my production company. I said to my son who was eleven years old—I am very close to my son since I was the one who raised him. I told him that I must leave to work as a filmmaker and that he would go to live with his father, it would be a more stable environment for him. He said it was okay but on the condition that for my next film I would dedicate to him in big letters “to my son Kaiya”.
Angèle Diabang (1:17:23)
I agree with everyone. It is a thankless job. Rama talked about precariousness, people think that because we travel around the world that we have money. And the men with whom we are in relationships do not necessarily help as they think that because you are in the media, in the press, you have everything you need, that we do not need assistance from them. But no, we had the child together and should give them an education. What is also difficult, I don’t know if you have also had this experience, but the further that we advance in our art, the more we succeed in our work, the more we lose in our relationships with our men. It is as if, I take up too much space in the house. I am not just the woman, I am the one who is seen on television, who is invited to Cannes. And I pay for that. With my ex-husband I was able, nonetheless, to have space in the house, where I could say, “here, this is my environment”…. When entering, knock first, when I want to have dinner with the others I will, if not I will do so alone. If I want to work until six in the morning I will. I need this environment, I need it in order to be me, it is important…I need a space to work, to go to for inspiration. Where I am me, as my person and not that of another.
It is difficult to find the balance of artist/creator, a family life, social life, to go to a wedding and other events during which women socialise together. I am not saying it is not enjoyable but I don’t have the time. I do not have the four hours to attend these events. I am then called a person who is not rooted in her culture. No that is not true. I am very much rooted in my culture it is just that I need solitude, quietness to work, to create, to be with myself, to be inspired, and often our society criticises us for expressing this need for solitude to create. But my 4-year-old son gives me the strength to work. I explain it to him and he understands. He says that when he is older he will go on the plane with me. And so all of the airplanes in the sky are those of his mom. Speaking of solidarity between women, as Nadia says, when I travel he has an entourage of women who takes care of him. And in fact he is able to do more than when I am there closed up in my office or in front of the computer. The house has more women when I am not there, when it is just the two of us. When I am gone, there is the grandmother, the friends, the cousins.
Claire Diao: Thank you to all and to the organisers.
