Short film
Ainsi soit-il
Joseph Gaï Ramaka · 1997
Synopsis
A dispensary, in a dark building where three old women speak in enigmatic terms. Sick children prowl around this closed place. The healer's companion urges him to leave: this place is nothing but a place of death, she says. He refuses to leave his people and his work. The man and the woman remain locked in this bond, and their break-up becomes the portrait of a wounded Africa, where nothing seems able to be resolved.
Context
The film is inspired by Wole Soyinka. About thirty minutes on thirty-five millimetre, in French and Wolof, with Alex Descas, Félicité Wouassi and Maïmouna Boye; the cinematography is by Jean-Michel Humeau, the editing by Juliana Sanchez. It is part of a series of six African short films, produced by the author's company with Catalyst Films, of South Africa, and La Sept Arte; Ghaël Samb Sall is the producer.
Who it is for
Half an hour, subtitled for the Wolof. It is a chamber piece with no action, carried by the couple's dialogue; knowing Soyinka's theatre helps, but is not necessary.
Prizes and reception
Silver Lion and first prize in the Corto cortissimo section at the Venice Mostra in 1997, then first prize for short film at Vues d'Afrique, in Montreal, the following year.
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