DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The film asks a lot of questions. It questions what a film actually is, but also what parts of history deserve to be carefully preserved and which don’t. What kind of future will our countries face if all of our archives just disappear one day? As people say, “A tree without roots cannot grow.” Films are also parts of these roots. There is no judgement in The Cemetery of Cinema; no one is being accused personally. What’s important is this collective awareness of the importance of both producing our own images and preserving them. 

The first time I heard about Mouramani was in Niamey, in Niger. Our film history teacher told us that the first film from black francophone Africa was Mouramani and not Afrique-sur-Seine. From that moment on, I started to look for it. Everyone had heard of it, but no one had seen it.  

“Playing” a character in this film was, first of all, a tribute to the director of Mouramani. Me carrying this film is one thread of the story; I carry it through my desire to make cinema, through my fear of whether I will succeed in this profession or not. My character is a symbol of all those filmmakers who keep trying to make films as well as they can. In French, we say: “Arrête ton cinema” when someone is making a fuss. I wanted this character to be an example of someone who, in actual fact, doesn’t stop making his cinema. 

Like many people, I discovered cinemas early and, since then, there has been this magic connection between us. Seeing those dusty reels and those empty rooms, it’s like seeing my childhood memories disappear alongside them. For me, the cinema is, and always has been, a magical place, where we can share intense and exceptional moments together. My past, and also my future, is connected to it.