Africa-Press – Senegal. French director Johanna Makabi evokes important memories of African cinema in the short documentary « Our memory », which she devotes to Senegalese actress Mbissine Thérèse Diop.
The film was screened at the African Feminist Film and Research Festival, which took place recently (June 16-18) in Gorée.
Diop embodies the role of Diouana, the heroine of « La Noire de… » (1966), a feature film by filmmaker Sembène Ousmane, whose centenary of birth is celebrated this year.
The synopsis of the film « La Noire de… » features Diouana, a young Senegalese who takes care of the children of a French couple living in Dakar. She goes with the couple to France, finds herself a prisoner in her apartment and becomes a jack of all trades. Racism, feeling of isolation and loss of identity drive her to suicide.
Johanna Makabi, of Senegalese and Congolese origin, imitates from the beginning of her film the first shots of « La Noire de… » by showing a Mbissine Thérèse Diop living alone in a Parisian apartment, cleaning her bathroom and cooking. « It’s a way, says Makabi in an interview with APS, to dive into this fifty-six-year history. »
Her film is behind closed doors in the actress’s Parisian apartment. Mbissine Thérèse Diop, who has lived in exile in Paris since 1976, following the « ostracism » of which she was the victim after the interpretation of this role because of which she was called a « bitch » by some Senegalese.
« People said I was a whore because at that time making films in Africa was seen as a way of provoking everyone. I fought for Africa and for all women, to show that they are capable of making very good films, » Diop says in the film, considering that he was not rewarded according to his merit.
Mbissine Thérèse Diop dives into her memories of Senegal, with her old cassettes in which we hear Youssou Ndour perform « Mbadane », a cult piece. Under Makabi’s camera, Diop’s tapes also broadcast Serer music and radio interviews. She talks about her experience as a black actress in the 1960s.
The French director also shows photos from the filming of « La noire de… » and her unfinished house in Dakar. Images that can refer to her “unfinished” acting role.
« Our memory » shows a dancing Mbissine Thérèse Diop, full of life, immersed in her memories, a giant poster of the film « La Noire de… » by her side. Dressed in an embroidered boubou and very elegant, despite her old age and the suffering that she still remembers.
A « surrogate grandmother »
Johanna Makabi says she spent two weeks with “this surrogate grandmother”, of whom she is “very admiring”. « When I met Mbissine, I had in mind the idea that two generations were meeting. This is why the film is called ‘Our Memory’. This is no ordinary interview film. I think about my position as a young woman entering the world of cinema, » explains the director. She stays in Dakar, where she takes part in an exhibition residency.
For Makabi, it is important to know especially the Senegalese stage of the course of Mbissine Thérèse Diop. « She talks a lot about youth and transmission, which is important to him. She talks a lot about the importance of listening to older people. It’s very hard for her to grow old in France because there is no such importance given to the elderly, » says the director and producer born to a Senegalese mother and a Congolese father.
« As a young filmmaker who studied cinema at the Sorbonne, I felt a lot of nostalgia for my parents […] When learning cinema, I wanted to get closer to my culture, thanks to cinema. Ousmane Sembène’s films were a way for me to get to know my Senegalese culture, to see the Senegal of the time and to get to know it better. »
Johanna Makabi met Mbissine Thérèse Diop in 2017, when she was in charge, as an intern, of casting the film « Mignonnes » (2020), by Franco-Senegalese director Maïmouna Doukouré. A film in which Diop plays the role of grandmother.
In Dakar, Makabi will exhibit on Mbissine Thérèse Diop, to whom she aims to devote a fiction feature film. The restitution of his exhibition residence highlighting the memory of Diop will take place on Wednesday July 6 at the « Sélébé Yonn » gallery, located in the Plateau.
The actress’ story will be highlighted using three screens, according to the director. « One of the screens will show the archive photos of Mbissine on the island of Gorée. They were taken by Abdou Fary Faye (1936-2022). There will also be a [text] by Ousmane Sembène entitled ‘Nostalgie’, which was taken from his collection of short stories ‘Voltaïque’, published in 1962 by Présence africaine and dedicated to the character of Diouana, a real news item from which is inspired the film ‘La Noire de… »‘
Excerpts from Makabi’s interview with Mbissine Thérèse Diop will be shown on one of the screens. The exhibition residency will be an opportunity to discuss the treatment made of the archives found on Diop by the directorate of cinematography in Senegal. The original poster of the film « La Noire de… » will be presented to the public during the exhibition residency which will last for a month, according to Makabi.
Johanna Makabi is also the director of « Medise, afro hair and other myths » (2018). She studied cinema at the Sorbonne and holds a master’s degree in anthropology and documentary from Paris-Nanterre University (2018).
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