I don’t think that I’ve seen a film from Niger before and this is a very beautiful film to introduce me to the country. I hadn’t realised that this is the largest country by area in West Africa south of the Sahara. Most of the population lives in the South of the country and the North is mainly the Sahara. The film reminded me of earlier films from Senegal, Mali and Chad and that isn’t too surprising for two reasons. First Niger has borders with many other countries and it has different language groups associated with similar groups in other countries. Second, just like many well-known filmmakers of those other countries, the writer-director of this film, Rahmatou Keïta, studied in Paris and then got work in French television before moving into film features. Her daughter Magaajyia Silberfeld who plays the lead character Tiyaa in this film, is similarly French-educated and a filmmaker.
Tiyaa has just returned from France for the ‘winter holiday’ which she will spend in her aristocratic family home in the Sultanate of Damagaram which includes the city of Zinder. Her home seems to be in a more rural area and her family and others close by follow a traditional way of life, despite the sophistication Tiyaa has learned in Paris. The simple storyline follows an age-old premise, made specific only by Tiyaa’s return from France. While a student there she has met an attractive young man, also from Niger and from a similar background, from a family not far away from her home. Will he propose? Tiyaa believes he will but she doesn’t want to get ahead of herself so she tries to repress the joy and the mounting frustration she feels. But it shows and everyone is aware something is wrong. Eventually her closest friend (or is it her sister?) decides to visit the ‘zimma’, the local shaman who can cast a spell to bring forward the young man with his proposal.
What follows is a sequence of encounters and family events that structure the narrative as a stop-go sequence leading up to what we hope will be a happy ending. Many of these events take place within the family compound and they involve a large extended family household of wives and aunts, servants and friends as well as visitors and even someone seeking sanctuary from Tiyaa’s father as the head of the household community. I was reminded of Sembène Ousmane‘s comments about stories in West Africa and the involved process of meeting people and observing the correct modes of address and procedures for offering and receiving salutations. The other Sembène-related thought is that the film still deals with the idea of West Africans travelling to France just as in those Senegalese films of the 1960s/70s. Now, Tiyaa has the wealth and sophistication to be studying unlike Sembène’s maid or roadsweeper. But she does meet (and greet) a woman who now lives on the street in a square where she is mocked by passers-by. She believes her man has gone to France and is waiting his return.
The beautiful Tiyaa is a sophisticated character who is also rebellious and friendly towards children and those not as fortunate as herself but she is also aware of all the traditional beliefs. The film is delightful but also an ironic representation of Niger which is one of the poorest countries in the world. I wonder if the film has been screened there? I doubt there are any cinemas as such. Perhaps it would just be seen by those with access to satellite TV? I’m glad I’ve seen the film and I’m grateful for the two screenings in this festival which I’ve managed to squeeze in between London Film Festival screenings.
The Case for Global Film 