"Censorship" and "contempt" prevent the distribution of African films in the world, says Malian director Souleymane Cissé, 83, one of the fathers of the 7th art on this continent, who has won only one Palme d'Or to date.
LEFIGARO. - In May 1987, you received the jury prize for your film Yeelen. Thirty-six years later, you are once again awarded at Cannes with the Carrosse d'Or, awarded on Wednesday at the Filmmakers' Fortnight. What does this mean for you?
Souleymane CISSÉ - I thank the confreres for choosing me. This award encourages me to make new films, to reinvent myself and change my vision. If social cinema remains my DNA, I want to explore other genres such as fantasy. I've always wanted to make fantastic films but the opportunity never came to me. I also hope that, thanks to this award, projects dear to my heart, which sleep in cupboards, will wake up, including several documentaries.
You are often described as the grandfather of African cinema, one of the pioneers. How do you view this one?
Grandfather? I don't know. I have the impression that those who say this have not understood my works. All the films I made are still relevant. My first feature film La Jeune Fille, which will be screened on Wednesday at the Fortnight, is about rape and I think it's a very sensitive film, which does not die in time. On the new generation, I have always been and will remain optimistic. What we have not been able to achieve, they will do. The fact that there are two African films in competition this year is a good sign. We have problems in Mali and Niger because unfortunately, for 50 years, our leaders have not wanted to understand the importance of cinema. In other countries, cinema is developing well. In Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria, there is great vitality. What is a bit of a shame for me is that our films are deprived of the chance to be seen by European and American audiences.
" READ ALSO African cinema is invited to Cannes with a Chadian film sublimating the "heroines of everyday life"
What's the problem?
For me, it's first and foremost a distributor problem. As long as they don't take an interest in our films, nothing will change. No matter how much we produce, do whatever we want, as long as European, American or Chinese audiences do not have access to our films, we will not move forward. And I'm sure this censorship at the distribution level will eventually break. When I say censorship, it is because we are preventing the release of African films in large cinemas, these popular cinemas. I take the case of France for example. Very few African films are distributed properly in the country's cinemas, even though the public has always been at the rendezvous of the cinema. That's a lot of contempt. We simply do not want to equate filmmakers from Africa and those from the West. However, cinema is precisely about going to meet the other. We've been trying to make quality films for 50 years, but we see it on screens. I had the chance to see my films distributed properly. But the others? To deprive the public of such films is to feed a form of misunderstanding about Africa. And when misunderstanding sets in, relations between countries become complicated. It's a lose-lose combo.
