A red carpet, crackling flashes, full halls... Dakar vibrated for the presentation of the film
Tirailleurs
, in tribute to the hundreds of thousands of Africans who fought for France during the First World War.
“
Omar, a smile for the photo
”, launches Tuesday evening a young Senegalese at the address of the French star Omar Sy, seeking in the crush a little space to focus with his smartphone.
The actor lends himself to the exercise, visibly happy and impatient to show his next film in his country of origin.
Tirailleurs
, by director Mathieu Vadepied, tells the story of young Thierno, forcibly recruited in a small Senegalese village by the French army in 1917, and his father who voluntarily enlists to watch over him in the horror of the trenches. .
They were thus more than 200,000 to fight for France during the Great War.
“
It's completely my story.
It's completely my identity
“says Omar Sy, also co-producer of the film.
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He invited his friends, his family and the Senegalese team of the feature film.
"
A lot of emotions
," he told AFP.
This film, "
it's just to remember and recognize what these men brought to this story
".
“
Our generation needed
it,” insists the man who speaks in the film in Fulani, his mother tongue.
“
We are very happy to show this to Senegalese spectators and to pay tribute here to all these soldiers who participated in these wars.
This story between France and Senegal, and the other African countries, is a distant and common story now.
We are together
, ”abounds Mathieu Vadepied.
Debates
The brand new Pathé cinema in Dakar, one of the biggest in West Africa, organized a special evening for the preview of the film in Senegal, where it will be released on January 6, two days after its release in France.
In the rooms, VIPs, such as singers Youssou N'Dour and Ismaël Lo, but also anonymous people, Dakar residents, Franco-Senegalese who have returned to see their families for the end of year celebrations, and French people.
No more space was available.
At the exit, the spectators meet in small groups and deliver their impressions on the film and on History.
The feeling of injustice is strong.
“
There is a feeling of anger and sadness watching this film.
It was our ancestors who went to defend a homeland that is not ours
says Mohamed Seck, a 23-year-old student from Senegal.
Pape Malick Thiam, 30, regrets a "
negative
" representation of certain skirmishers, "
who quarrel among themselves
" and "
one of whose heroes ends up abandoning his religious values in contact with white
people ".
"
It's an injustice but we can also take it positively because our grandparents had to help France a little
," said Moustapha Ndiaye, 37, for his part.
"Essential Movie"
For all, the image of the tirailleur is associated with the lack of recognition and the massacre of Thiaroye, where dozens of African soldiers who had revolted to claim back pay were killed by the French colonial army on December 1, 1944. The need to see this episode brought to the screen seems real.
“
People have to go see these kinds of films.
It is very important to highlight the skirmishers and show what they have done for France, especially since we don't talk about it much at school
, ”said Athiel Gaye, a Franco Senegalese 29 years old who grew up in France.
“
These kinds of films are essential
,” says Salomé Ba, a 21-year-old Franco-Senegalese student who has read a lot on the subject.
"
We need it to touch the spirits and for the duty of memory.
We are not all going to open 500-page books
.
The subject of skirmishers, “
I discussed it a lot with my French family.
On the Senegalese side, we talk about it much less, like everything related to colonization.
There is still a sort of taboo here.
We can't get rid of this injury so easily
, ”she believes.