2024-04-27 22:05:00
While on the African continent, audiovisual archives from the 1960s are rare, in Senegal, for several months, four films dating from 1966 have been available once more for the Senegalese public. After restoration work lasting more than two years, these four films were screened in a cinema in Dakar.
From our correspondent in Dakar,
On the screen, brand new buildings, a freshly restored cathedral, the port, a few passers-by, a beautiful and modern city appear in black and white. It is Dakar in 1966, the capital then has only 100,000 inhabitants and is regarding to host the first world festival of Negro arts, organized by Léopold Sedar Senghor. For Moustapha Samb, operations director of Pathé, it’s a return to childhood: “ As a Senegalese, I was very proud to see Dakar once more, to feel all the creative energy at the time. For me, it’s the beginning and as they say in Wolof, to move forward, you have to know where you come from. »
Because the images that are projected that day are those of Senegalese news. Small films of 8 to 20 minutes which, in the 1960s, were broadcast in Dakar cinemas, before the film. A sort of national and world news tour, at a time when television was almost non-existent. Directed by young African filmmakers like Ababacar Samb, Momar Thiam or Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, among others. For Marco Lena, historian and co-initiator of this restoration project, these images therefore have heritage value: “ Because in fact, we realize that it marks the images of Africa, shot by Africans for Africans, there is always an external point of view. These images represent the audiovisual archeology of independent Africa. »
Thousands of hours of work
Archaeology, because these images had to be brought back to life. Discovered in 2019, abandoned in a room at the Ministry of Culture in Dakar, Cecilia Cincerelli, from the Bologna cinematheque, spent many months restoring these films. “ This represents thousands of hours of work. If we do it manually, you have to imagine that for each image you can stay for a day. So, imagine on film. »
The result is breathtaking, apart from a few white spots everything is there and just waiting to be seen by as many people as possible. For Moustapha Samb, president of the Mamiwata cultural association: “ For these young people today, we see that the audiovisual, digital version is booming, but I think that these young people need to see what was done before to move forward. »
The four films of 1966: – Senegal and the World Festival of Negro Arts, The 3rd Arts Festival, Senegal year XVI and VPresident Senghor’s trip to the West Indies – must be programmed in various festivals and cinemas in Senegal, before more of these films which go up to 1980 can be restored.
Also listenSenegal: abandoned for years, the audiovisual archives are getting a makeover
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