The beginnings
In 1955, a group of African filmmakers, led by the Senegalese Paulin Soumanou Vieyra and Mamadou Sarr, made Afrique-sur-Seine and thus put (perhaps for the first time) Africa in the spotlight of cinema. A small success, which begins with images of carefree children playing and frolicking in the river before transporting the audience to Paris, taking them on a bus or Vespa ride along the great arteries recognizable on postcards. We have a drink on the terrace of a café, we end the evening dancing salsa, while wondering and commenting on the life of Africans in this "capital of the world, of black Africa", as Vieyra himself comments. Two years later, the group did it again with Un homme, une vie, un idéal. The groundwork was laid and the Senegalese film cravings were aroused. It still remains to make African cinema about Africa. The production boom of the 1960s, which gave the newly independent country its title of Saint-Germain of the continent, provided for this. Paulin Soumanou Vieyra and other future figures such as Abacar Samb Makharam, Yves Badara Diagne and Momar Thiam gradually entered the dance. Blaise Senghor, founder of the African Film Union (UCINA), co-produced, among others, Grand Magal à Touba, a film that won the Silver Bear in Berlin. These brilliant years of the 1960s also saw the revelation of the cinematographic talent of the writer Ousmane Sembène, who was made a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury in 1967. Sembène and his Noire de... undoubtedly marked this decade, and his "meyotage" (the director's resourcefulness in financing his films) was the lot of many amateurs who began to make a name for themselves.
From the 1970s to the present day
The 1970s marked a turning point for Senegalese cinema. The Sembène school gave way to new visions, such as that of Djibril Diop Mambéty, whose Touki Bouki left a strong imprint. Structures appeared. The small world of filmmakers began to organize: the Cinéastes sénégalais associés (CINESEAS) and the Bureau de la cinématographie were born. And finally, the State itself launched a number of initiatives aimed at boosting national productions. In 1972, the Société nationale de la cinématographie (SNC) was created, followed by the Société d'importation, de distribution et d'exploitation cinématographique (SIDEC, 1973). However, while all these names reflect a desire to do good, none of the organizations managed to keep the promises made to Senegal's 7th art. In 1978, the Fonds de soutien à l'industrie cinématographique (FOSIC) tried to replace the SNC, and in 1984, the Société nouvelle de production cinématographique (SNPC) took over, but to no avail. The government withdrew in 1990, proposed a recovery plan in 1994, and the pattern seemed to repeat itself once again. Now, filmmakers are turning to international funds, notably the Pan-African Film and Audiovisual Fund, launched in 2010 by the Pan-African Film Federation, with the support of the OIF. In Dakar, where film buffs had a choice of some forty venues in the early 1980s, only a handful still screen films: the Institut français, the Goethe Institut and Au cinéma ce soir, an association that screens the same films a few days a month at the Théâtre Sorano as those shown in Paris, give or take a few weeks. After a 25-year absence from the Senegalese film scene, the capital now boasts three cinema complexes, including Canal Olympia Teranga, near the Grand Théâtre, and the Pathé Dakar cinema in Mermoz, which offers laser projection and top-quality sound. Deprived of the 7th art for too long, the Senegalese are once again flocking to cinemas.
Alain Gomis and renewal
Times are hard, but the page doesn't seem to have been turned for good, because despite the lack of means and visibility, some names are emerging: Moussa Sène Absa, Mansour Sora Wade, Joseph Gaï Ramaka, Moussa Touré, Alain Gomis... The latter, born in France in 1972 to a Senegalese father and a French mother, began his career in the audiovisual industry as a video workshop leader for the city of Nanterre. In 2001, he directed his first feature film, L'Afrance, which introduced him to the world of the 7th art. Petite Lumière (2003), Ahmed (2006) and Andalucía (2008) followed. 2012 marked a major comeback for Gomis, whose feature Tey en wolof(Aujourd'hui, in French) was selected for the prestigious Berlin Film Festival (and won the Etalon d'Or at FESPACO the following year). 2012 was also a good year for Moussa Touré, who presented his film La Pirogue at the Cannes Film Festival, in the "Un certain regard" category. In 2017, Gomis took another step forward in his career as a filmmaker, winning the Grand Jury Prize at the 67th Berlinale with his latest opus, Félicité. Released in cinemas at the end of March 2017, this feature film tells the story of the struggle of a mother, a singer in a bar in Kinshasa, to pay for her son's operation, the victim of a motorcycle accident. In May 2019, Franco-Senegalese director Mati Diop receives the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival for her feature Atlantique, a moving film about immigration. The year 2020 marks the fourth edition of the Festival Films Femmes Afrique, the first Senegalese film event devoted entirely to women. This year's edition, based in Dakar, was dedicated to "Women in Resistance", thus continuing its contribution to equal rights for women and men in Senegal. That same year, Tiziana Manfredi and Marco Lena confirmed the discovery of no fewer than 5,900 reels of Senegalese films, found in 2009. Visiting Senegal to obtain a filming permit, the Italian researchers discovered this veritable treasure trove in an abandoned building. Ten years of training later, and with the help of Hugues Diaz, Director of Cinématographie du Sénégal, Manfredi and Lena restored and processed what appears to be the country's entire audiovisual archive (from the 1960s to the 1980s). An incredible discovery for Senegalese cinema.
