Événement

Films by Khady Sylla, a Senegalese Filmmaker

Sat, March 28 @ 4PM -- 263-Macy

Mostly known in Francophone quarters, Khady Sylla is a female filmmaker from Sub-Saharan Africa. Her work is representative of a movement of images and ideas in African and Afro-Centric films that are inclined to take a critical look at society.

COLOBANE EXPRESS

Public vans provide the traditional and sole means of city transportation in Dakar, Senegal. In a frenzy of activity, from the outskirts to downtown, people from all walks of life as well as fruits, vegetables, chickens, etc. are transported daily in these public vans. Colobane Express opens a window on a slice of life in the busy urban metropolis where drivers and their trainees are always on the go, managing relationships, incidents and conflicts, dealing with the competition and providing an invaluable service to demanding yet loving customers.

Directed by Khady Sylla, 1999, Senegal/France, Docu-Drama, 52 min, Wolof w/English subt.

THE SILENT MONOLOGUE / LE MONOLOGUE DE LA MUETTE

In a voice-over, we hear the thoughts of Amy, a girl from a rural area of Senegal who works as a domestic for a well-to-do family in Dakar. She complains about her employer, who continuously criticizes her and gets on her case, and she talks about her dream of one day opening her own eatery. Meanwhile, we see her sweep the pavement, prepare the food and clean the house. The contrast with her vast and barren native region is enormous. In Dakar, some 150,000 young women work as housekeepers for families whose daughters can go to school. "Why does the emancipation of some result in the servitude of others?" Amy wonders. The filmmakers interview other young maids who dream of going to school, and they film a woman who shouts her furious lyrics straight into the camera in rapper-like fashion: "I keep your houses squeaky clean, but you all think I'm dirty!" In a dramatized scene in a slum, the women demonstrate how they'd like to deal with a woman who doesn't pay her housekeeper enough. In response to the situation, the filmmakers make an appeal to change the rules of the world economy.

Directed by Khady Sylla and Charlie Van Damme, 2008, Senegal/Belgium, Docu-Drama, 48 min, Wolof w/English subt.

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