Art might not change the present world outright, but if it makes people think and forces them to start asking questions, that is a step in the right direction. This is the philosophy that drives Mauritanian-Malian film director Abderrahmane Sissako to produce films that discuss Africa’s relationship with the rest of the world.
In 2007, the University’s French department invited Sissako to a one-day colloquium on visual culture titled “On Display: Visual Culture in the French-speaking World.” His film “Bamako” was screened here at Vinegar Hill.
Sissako impressed not only the University but also the wider Charlottesville community, and the University began planning for a return visit. Now those plans have to come to fruition, and for the month of November the University French Department hosts Sissako as a filmmaker-in-residence. He was also a special guest at the Virginia Film Festival.
During this time, four of his films will be publicly screened, and Sissako will spend time with French and political science classes.
Asst. French Prof. Alison Levine has been working closely with Sissako and said she believes his “presence here has created excitement and energy [because] he brings about conversations between people that wouldn’t otherwise meet.”
She said she sees Sissako as someone who crosses boundaries — political, categorical and geographical. This is evident in his films and also is a reflection of his own life.
Sissako was born in Mauritania and grew up in Mali. At 19 years old, he left Mali to study world cinema on a scholarship at the National Film School in Moscow in the former Soviet Union. This was an era of political oppression, yet because he was a foreigner, Sissako said he did not feel as oppressed as the Russian students.
“Depending on one’s age, you live oppression differently,” he said. “I was 19, at the age of curiosity.”
During the 1980s, he said, the USSR offered many scholarships to African elites, trying to extend Soviet influence on the continent. Because he was already becoming politically aware in high school, he said, this “brainwashing did not work so well.”
His films are both personal and political, focusing on the relationship between Africa and the rest of the world, especially the financial relationship between Europe, the United States and Africa.
Although all of his films have been about Africa, Sissako has never returned to live in Mali or Mauritania. He lives in and works from Paris because not enough African countries can financially support cinema production, he said.
Sissako said he sees cinema as a universal language, believing that “as soon as a film meets and audience and people begin to ask questions and look at things differently, the film has reached its goal.”
Although he said he rarely has one intended audience, his most recent film, “Bamako,” was more directly addressed to the Western world. The film examines the dynamic between developing African nations and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Sissako recently discussed “Bamako” in a French cinema class, and his commentary enabled many of the students to better understand and appreciate the work behind the film.
“It was enriching to hear from a director’s perspective,” fourth-year College student Abyan Lokman said. “It made [the film] seem more valuable.”
Sissako said he is careful not to influence viewers’ opinions or expectations before they see a film, which is why he is often hesitant to give a prescreening introduction.
Second-year College student Stephanie Newton said Sissako wanted students to form their own interpretations. She said she enjoyed “Bamako” because of its “juxtaposition between actors and citizens,” both of whom are featured in the film. This juxtaposition made the film “not fiction, nor a documentary.”
The film does not fit into a specific genre, Lokman said. It is about “bringing attention to a different view of Africa [and] working on different perspectives.”
This idea of portraying a realistic portrait of Africa is a driving force behind much of Sissako’s work. He said he tries “to explain things that people don’t understand, despite their goodwill.”
The Western world has a conception of Africa as a continent of “poor countries that need help,” yet they do not address the causes of this poverty, he added.
The French department has encouraged these discussions.
“It is not only a department that studies France,” Levine said. “We also welcome perspectives from the broader French-speaking world.”
Sissako said he is very pleased with the opportunities the French department has given him. He said he came not only to teach but also to learn and feels almost as though he has come back to school.
“When you make movies you want to meet people.” Sissako said. “I have the opportunity to talk to people in this [younger] generation who come from all sorts of backgrounds, and [there is] a dialogue that is happening that is very exciting.”
There is also a dialogue of sorts between the films themselves, as what Sissako learns in the production of one film influences how he will direct the next.
Sissako said “Rostov-Luanda” was one of his most important films personally because it was the first film in which he truly found his own cinematic language.
“If I had not made ‘Rostov-Luanda’ I would not have made ‘Life on Earth’ the way I did,” he said.
Lokman said Sissako discussed this concept of taking risks in cinema with her class.
“Life on Earth” and “Rostov-Luanda” are the next two films that will screen Nov. 20 and 24 in Wilson 402 and are free to the public. A discussion follows every public screening of the films.
In addition to the French department, the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement, the Vice Provost for International Programs, the Virginia Film Festival, the Office of African-American Affairs, the Carter G. Woodson Institute and the University departments of history, English and anthropology are sponsoring Sissako’s residency.
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