The Cementery of Cinema (Au cimetière de la pellicule)
THIERNO SOULEYMANE DIALLO
04.10 – 19:00
PREMIERE IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY
France/Senegal/Guinea/Saudi Arabia, 2023
Documental, 93’
French, Malinke and Fulani, VOSE
Director: Thierno Souleymane Diallo
Screenplay: Thierno Souleymane Diallo
Cinematography: Leïla Chaïbi, Thierno Souleymane Diallo (C)
Sound: Ophélie Boully, Jean-Marie Salque, Brice Kartmann
Editing: Aurélie Jourdan, Marianne Haroche
Music: Dom Peter
Producers: L’image d’après, JPL Productions, Lagune Productions, Le grenier des ombres
Synopsis
The 1953 film Mouramani by Mamadou Touré is believed to be the first film ever made in Guinea. Interested in the conditions of its production – and the whereabouts of a film print – Thierno Souleymane Diallo sets out to find people who can tell him about the film’s history and its reception.
Equipped with a video camera, microphone and headphones, he travels through the country, and films everything he experiences on the road and during his conversations with archivists and those who remember the period.
The film turns into a journey through Guinea’s film history resulting in a multi-layered portrait of a country that is thought to have played a pioneering role in African cinema, but which is only slowly rediscovering the importance of films and film archives for its cultural identity and its history.