Interview with Angèle Diabang, member of the Un Certain Regard Jury

What are you expecting from your experience in the Un Certain Regard Jury?

Already, it is very symbolic. I’m experiencing a mix of gratitude, emotion, and pride. As a Senegalese woman, born and raised in Senegal, and who’s still working and living there it’s even more symbolic. It’s almost a matter of national pride to be a member of the Jury.

Regarding my expectations, I would say that I’d like to be inspired. Since I made my film Une si longue lettre (So Long a Letter), I’m always asked “What’s your next movie?” And I answer that I don’t have one. So coming here to Cannes and seeing so many inspiring films from around the world is like a gift from the heavens to move toward my next project.

What made you want to direct movies?

I grew up in a strict boarding school. Today, looking back, I think it provided me with the right tools to advance in life, strictness and determination. When I discovered cinema, I started dreaming about how a film would end before I even began watching it. And when my vision coincided with the narrative, I began wondering, how are movies made? When I got to university, I wanted to be behind the camera, to have the freedom to say what I wanted to say. Cinema was the best tool to achieve total freedom.

You studied cinema in Senegal, in France, and in Germany. What did you learn from that training?

In Senegal, I learned the basics. I wanted to be a film editor because it aligned with my more introverted personality to keep to myself, alone in a dark room. I remember that someone pushed me to model for photographs. I finally accepted with one condition, he had to teach me how to make films. Later, in France and in Germany, I was able to complete this training and discover a different kind of cinema, bolder with more means. It also rooted me in production and distribution. These three trainings complemented each other.

“When they called me to be a Jury Member (…) I wanted to say to people who had told me ‘You will never make cinema’ that I succeeded.”

Une si longue lettre (So Long a Letter) was very successful in West-African theatres. What moved you in Mariama Bâ’s book?

Growing up as a woman, we realize that the book is with us in all stages of our lives. We have a very rich African literature that is not sufficiently mined. It’s a very feminist novel. It gets passed down from generation to generation, and I thought it could lead yet another life if it were adapted to the screen. It’s not only a book about polygamy, it’s a book about friendship and educating women. The subject matter for us women, still living in Africa and faced with patriarchy, was so rich that I had to start with that film. I think that’s why the movie is successful, it happened in 1979, but it still resonates today. The film opens up a debate without trying to and with a lot of humor. Everyone went to see it, regardless of the subject matter.

In Dakar, schools came to watch it with 200 students. Many of these children came to the movies for the first time. I think that’s amazing because they will come back to theatres to watch something else.

How do you look at African cinema today?

African cinema is buoyed by a young uninhibited generation. We’re all connected through the internet and travel, which has enriched our cinema because we can do everything that others are doing and sometimes we do it even better. The tool is more accessible today. When I started, you needed a big camera and very expensive tapes. Sending films to festivals cost a lot of money then. Today, everything happens online.

What does the future of cinema look like for you?

I dream of a more feminine cinema. There aren’t enough female directors in Africa. Yet, there are so many interesting things to say. The way women view patriarchal society will enable changes and promote a meditation on how our society should progress.