Events

German Premiere: “Président Dia & Mère-Bi”

Hackesche Höfe Kino, Berlin, Germany
06 Apr 2014

German Premiere: “Président Dia & Mère-Bi”

On the occasion of Senegal’s Independence Day and in presence of director Ousmane William Mbaye, AfricAvenir and Sunugaal invite  to the German Premiere of the award winning documentaries “Président Dia” and “Mère-Bi” (both original with German subtitles).

From a very personal perspective William Mbaye examines a still much neglected and hence little known key period in the recent history of his country: the independence period. His today 87 year old mother, first academically trained female journalist of the country and influential witness, in her self-ironic and very entertaining way immerses us into this era in which everything seemed possible and yet, the opportunities for real emancipation were missed. The political dispute of 1962 opposing President Senghor and the President of the Council of Ministers, Mamadou Dia, illustrates what was at stake regarding economic policy and what battles were fought behind the scenes of the presumably so “peaceful” independences in “francophone” Afrika.

Sunday, 6 April 2014, 5.30 pm, Hackesche Höfe Cinema

Following the screening there will be a public discussion with director Ousmane William Mbaye and producer Laurence Attali as well as a reception with Senegalese finger food in the foyer.

 

Mère-Bi (My mother)
Senegal, 2008, 54 min., French/Wolof with German subtitles
D Ousmane William Mbaye

In this award winning documentary director Ousmane William Mbaye portrays his mother, Annette Mbaye d’Erneville, the first academically trained Senegalese female journalist. At once activist, artist and non-conformist thinker she already fought for the emancipation of Senegalese women at the time of independence and considerably shaped the Senegal’spublic life through her columns and her personality. Mbaye filmed his mother during 14 years on every occasion so that after a while even she didn’t notice the camera anymore. The result is not only a declaration of love from a son to his mother but also an intimate portrait of the today 87 year old lady who lost no inch of her vitality, her self-mocking humor and her non-conformist self-esteem.

Président Dia
Senegal, 2012, 54 min., French/Wolof with German subtitles
D Ousmane William Mbaye

On 17 December 1962, Mamadou Dia, President of the Senegalese Council of Ministers, is arrested and together with four of his closest ministers sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. After having been inseparable and gone all the steps towards independence together,  Senghor now accuses Dia of having planned a coup against him. The following day the constitution is changed and the parliamentarian system de facto turns into a presidential system which allocates all powers to the president. In 2012, 50 years later, while the election campaign shakes the nation and democratic values are at stake, witnesses and protagonists of the 1962 crisis finally take a stand on these fundamental events in recent Senegalese history.


Born 1952 in Paris, Oumane William Mbaye grows up in Djourbel. In 1972 he moves to Paris to study at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinéma Francais and at the University de Paris VIII Vincennes. He makes his first directing experiences as assistant of the Senegalese directors Ben Djogueye Beye (“Les princes noirs de Saint-Germain-des-Prés”) and Sembène Ousmane (“Ceddo”). “L’enfant de Ngatch” (1979), his first short film is awarded the bronze Tanit at the film festival in Karthago. Besides numerous co-productions with his friends Samba Félix N’Diaye, Amet Diallo and Cheikh Ngaïdo Bâ he makes his own movies: “Pain sec” (1981), “Dakar Clando” (1989), “Dial Diali et Fresque” (1992), “Xalima la plume” (2003), “Fer et Verre” (2005) and “Mère-Bi” (2008). For his most recent documentary “Président Dia” Mbaye received amongst others the golden Tanit in Karthago 2012.

 

Hackesche Höfe Kino
Rosenthaler Str. 40/41
10178 Berlin
S Hackescher Markt
U Weinmeisterstraße

Tickets & Information
030 283 46 03
www.hackesche-hoefe.org

For further information
www.africavenir.org

 


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