Ramata-Tulaye Sai. “Genre cinema allows me to escape from the African postcard”.

After the first spotlight on the Croisette, the Nouvelles Vagues festival in Biarritz named Ramata-Toulaye Si as one of the French filmmakers to follow, awarding him the Jury Passage Culture and Student Jury prizes. Between social fairy tale and magical realism, his film, Banel and: Adam (2023), indeed, takes a marginal look at the place of women in African societies, telling the cursed love story between a young independent Senegalese woman and a romantic boy destined to be the future head of a village. The 37-year-old director confronts the weight of tradition and duty with passion, breaks down stereotypes and explores new territory with this Fulani-language feature film featuring non-professional actors.

In the video, Banel and AdamaBy Ramata Tulaye Si, trailer

“It was my love of literature that made me tell stories”

Madame Figaro . – How did your desire for cinema arise?
Ramata-Tulaye Si. – Baby, my sisters and I spent a lot of time in the library. It was my love for literature that drove me to tell stories. I used to write stories in notebooks or movie reviews. When I entered university, as I also loved cinema, I decided to follow this course without telling myself that I would make a career out of it. My passion grew, and with it my interest in screenwriting; I tried the competition at La Fémis, I was accepted as a screenwriter and when I left, I started co-screening. (Our Lady of the Nile Sibel). Producer Eric Neve bought the rights to my graduation script and was looking for a director in vain. Everyone thought it was up to me, but I didn’t want to. When this producer died, his wife took over and I changed my mind. I wanted to pay tribute to this man who believed in me.

Why did you anchor this first film in Senegal, your country of origin?
During my first three years at La Femis, I wrote stories set in the suburbs of Paris where I grew up. But I didn’t want to be limited in my subjects, categorized, put in a box. I also had to prove to myself that I can do something else. Moreover, even if Banel and: Adam set in Africa, rural areas, hopefully universal. The place of women or the effects of global warming at the center of history are topics that concern us all.

There is a literary tradition of mad or unhinged white women. These models do not exist for black women who are always associated with oppression, subjugation, abuse, slavery…

Ramata-Tulaye Si

What do you remember about your choice in Cannes?
Immense joy, pride and unexpected light for the first film. It also allowed me to face the gaze of the audience. For example, I was surprised when I saw that my heroine, Banel, disturbed some people. Africans have mostly been portrayed as submissive victims in cinema. However, I wrote Banel inspired by Medea and Phaedrus, who can be mean, selfish, even murderous on the verge of madness. I also thought of Lila A wonderful friendBy Elena Ferrante, but for her, as for the great tragedians, be it marginal is more acceptable.

In other words.
There are two weights, two sizes. There is a literary tradition of mad or unhinged white women. they paved the way for other performances. These models hardly exist for black women, who are always associated with oppression, subjugation, abuse, slavery… It is important that these characters rooted in historical reality exist, but they cannot be the only ones. We also need heroines who, like Banel, challenge the dominant position of men in society. In this case, my heroine wants to choose where to live, refuses to have a child or sacrifice everything for a man or community. Does that make him reprehensible or unsympathetic to anyone? I’m not sure…

“I need the object to carry me”

Therefore, moving pointers is a strategic choice.
Aware, though. And it’s supposed to, because the reactions it provokes prove that there’s still a long way to go before women are seen as equals to men. Views are still shaped by archaic directives that, on my own small level, I am trying to deconstruct.

Including the portrait you paint of the male figure.
It would transcend tradition, religion, responsibilities, but I also wanted it to be touching, tender, listening to her partner, especially when she says she doesn’t want to be a mother. I envisioned Adama as a reaction to clichés, giving her typical characteristics often reserved for women. I had the same approach in aesthetic bias. genre cinema allows me to escape from the African postcard, to break the dominant naturalism in performances that are beginning to change thanks to the new generation. I think of Barry Jenkins in the US or Matti Diop and Alice Diop in France.

What models have you built yourself?
I missed the screens, even if I didn’t realize it, it was normal for all black, Arab, Asian kids… Growing up in a popular environment, I was fed Sunday night movies, American; blockbuster like Indiana Jones Or terminator, great famous French comedies with Louis de Funes. It kind of shows in the storm scene Banel and: Adama: it remains minimalist but reflects my love for the big show. I discovered auteur cinema much later, at university. The first were writers who shaped my thinking, like Toni Morrison and Gabriel García Márquez.

Are you planning to direct again?
Writing remains my priority. If there is a second film, I will take my time. I need the object to carry me.

Do it & Adam, By Ramata-Tulaye Si, with Khadi Mane, Mamadou Diallo…

In the video, at the Nouvelles Vagues festival in Biarritz, the public was delighted with Sofia Zerman’s performance.