Embassies of France in Brazil and Senegal Support Delegation of African Filmmakers in Brazil

Film professionals from Senegal, Mauritania, and Cape Verde will participate in the Mostra de Cinemas Africanos in September in São Paulo and Salvador.

The Mostra de Cinemas Africanos, the only annual festival in Brazil dedicated exclusively to contemporary African films, will receive support from the Embassies of France in Brazil and Senegal to welcome a delegation of African filmmakers. Filmmakers and producers from Senegal, Mauritania, and Cape Verde will present their films to Brazilian audiences and engage in networking and training activities. The festival takes place from September 11 to 18 in São Paulo (SP) and from September 18 to 25 in Salvador (BA).

One of the notable guests arriving in Brazil is Abderrahmane Sissako, one of the most acclaimed filmmakers from Africa. He will debut in Brazil at the Mostra de Cinemas Africanos 2024 his newest film Black Tea (2024). The film tells the story of a young woman from Ivory Coast who falls in love with an older Chinese man after immigrating to Asia. The feature, nominated for the Golden Bear at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, marks Sissako's long-awaited return to the screens, ten years after the celebrated Timbuktu (2014). Black Tea will open the festival in São Paulo.

Abderrahmane Sissako is a director, screenwriter, and producer known for exploring themes of belonging, hospitality, reciprocity, and cohabitation between different worlds through migratory and diasporic experiences. His internationally acclaimed films include La vie sur terre (1998), Heremakono (2002), Bamako (2006) e Timbuktu (2014). 

The young Franco-Senegalese director Ramata-Toulaye Sy is another guest, commercially debuting her film in Brazil at the Mostra de Cinemas Africanos. Banel & Adama (2023) is a Senegalese tale following a young couple from a small village as they confront their community's conventions. This is her first feature film, which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and impressed critics worldwide. The feature will open the festival in Salvador.

From Cape Verde, filmmaker Natasha Craveiro will debut her first feature film, Pirinha, an experimental narrative about a woman's process of liberation and healing as she faces past traumas. Also active as a producer, Natasha is a partner at Korikaxoru Films and produced the feature Omi Nobuby Carlos Yuri Ceuninck, which is also in the festival's programming this year. She also led the local production of Black Teain its sequence shot in Cape Verde.

In the production field, the Mostra de Cinemas Africanos will also welcome Yanis Gaye, a partner at the production company Gorée Films in Senegal. He will expand connections with Brazilian audiovisual professionals and participate in the Brazil-Africa Audiovisual Encounters, part of the festival's programming in Salvador. Representing Yetu (Un)Limited, Gaye aims to promote high-quality cinematic narratives to meet the growing demand of a global and diverse African audience.

In addition to participating in film sessions, the filmmakers will contribute to discussion panels on African cinema and professional exchanges with the Brazilian audiovisual market. 

The presence of Abderrahmane Sissako (Mauritania), Ramata-Toulaye Sy (France/Senegal), Natasha Craveiro (Cape Verde), and Yanis Gaye (France/Senegal) in Brazil is facilitated by the collective efforts of the French Embassies in Brazil and Senegal. This transatlantic collaboration aligns with France's diplomatic goals to connect African professionals worldwide in the artistic and cultural fields, especially among the Afro-diasporas.

In addition to supporting the African delegation in Brazil, the partnership with the French Embassies includes programming films from the French Cinémathèque of the Institut Français. About ten films will be shown in partnership, including the unreleased Omi Nobuby Carlos Yuri Ceuninck (Cape Verde) and Nomeby Sana Na N’hada (Guinea-Bissau).

All films are rated PG-14 unless otherwise stated.

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