Déjà Nu (Already Naked)
Short film, 15min, experimental
CONTEXT & INTERPRETATION
INTRO
The film itself being an experiment, can be felt and interpreted in many different ways. It can be seen as a box that you can fill with your own thoughts and emotions.
To that end, we're going to offer you a text that will give you inspiration, personal insights and a few glimpses into the film's process. We, that is, the director, Rolf Hellat, the actors and actresses Sylvia Ouattara, Laetitia Ky, Younouss Sadio, Jean-Luc Yonhite, Alpha Oumar Diallo and Doudou Touré.
The film itself being an experiment, can be felt and interpreted in many different ways. It can be seen as a box that you can fill with your own thoughts and emotions.
To that end, we're going to offer you a text that will give you inspiration, personal insights and a few glimpses into the film's process. We, that is, the director, Rolf Hellat, the actors and actresses Sylvia Ouattara, Laetitia Ky, Younouss Sadio, Jean-Luc Yonhite, Alpha Oumar Diallo and Doudou Touré.
„Déjà Nu“ is a mix of fiction, documentary, music video and experimental film.
The content was created by us, people from Senegal, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire and Switzerland. During this creative process, all the contributors to the film learned from each other about their backgrounds, biographies and cultures. The emphasis was on linking cultures through mutual respect, interactive interest and a genuine appreciation of each person and each life journey.
We'll talk about each scene in the film: the straw creature scene, the dancing in the dust scene, the homeless scene, the menstrual blood scene, the sacrificed goat scene, the euphoria in the night scene and the dancing petals scene.
Rolf Hellat: For me, the film generally represents different moments when the protagonists* value the body. In moments of death, exhaustion, social taboo, loss, euphoria, nature or the world of dreams. Each scene takes up one of these aspects.
For me, an important theme of the film is also the ephemeral nature of the body, the transient quality of being, or rather the appreciation of the ephemeral. For me, the idea of one's own death has a strongly life-affirming quality. The title ‘Déjà Nu’ alludes to this state of mind. ‘Déjà nu’ symbolises the fact that I am going to die and that I will leave this earth as a pure body and nothing else. There's also something motivating for me in realising that death is coming, that I'm already naked. The film shows different aspects of appreciating one's own body.
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STRAW CREATURE SCENE
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Rolf: Younouss, you live in this village and you shared this straw creature with us through this film scene. Would you be so kind as to give us a brief introduction to the straw creature?
Younouss: The straw creature is called Kumpo. Kumpo is a traditional entity from the mythology of the Diola people in Casamance in Senegal. The Kumpo is sacred. It approaches people to help them, to encourage the community in which it appears, to bless the rice harvest or a wedding, for example, or to mediate in the event of a dispute. The kumpo is also a refuge. It is not a human, but a spirit, a being, a creature. It has existed for a long time. Since our grandparents, our great-grandparents, for many, many generations.
Rolf: For me, there was something profoundly spiritual about the way this creature was spinning. It personally puts me in an enchanting state of humility in the face of nature, of admiration and calm.
Younouss: Yes, that's right. As long as it is around, people are happy, people are alive, their hearts are beating with love and mutual respect.
Rolf: There's also something hypnotic about the constant circular movement. For me, the Kumpo symbolises the supernatural, which is based on a certain imagination, and at the same time the hyper-real, which can only be experienced with the senses, here and now.
Rolf: Younouss, you live in this village and you shared this straw creature with us through this film scene. Would you be so kind as to give us a brief introduction to the straw creature?
Younouss: The straw creature is called Kumpo. Kumpo is a traditional entity from the mythology of the Diola people in Casamance in Senegal. The Kumpo is sacred. It approaches people to help them, to encourage the community in which it appears, to bless the rice harvest or a wedding, for example, or to mediate in the event of a dispute. The kumpo is also a refuge. It is not a human, but a spirit, a being, a creature. It has existed for a long time. Since our grandparents, our great-grandparents, for many, many generations.
Rolf: For me, there was something profoundly spiritual about the way this creature was spinning. It personally puts me in an enchanting state of humility in the face of nature, of admiration and calm.
Younouss: Yes, that's right. As long as it is around, people are happy, people are alive, their hearts are beating with love and mutual respect.
Rolf: There's also something hypnotic about the constant circular movement. For me, the Kumpo symbolises the supernatural, which is based on a certain imagination, and at the same time the hyper-real, which can only be experienced with the senses, here and now.
Younouss: When I saw the Kumpo for the first time, I was also stunned. I was beside myself. I was collapsing into the mass. And I had a lot of questions. How does it manage to do that? What's behind it all? And I had no answers.
Rolf: Yes, I didn't have answers as well. It seemed to me that the Kumpo was telling me that we humans don't have an answer for everything. And that's where modesty is born.
Younouss: Africa has its realities. Africa really does have its realities. Not everything is scientific, there are things that cannot be explained.
Rolf: Is the Kumpo also a symbol of a Diola belief that everything has a soul, including animals, plants, rivers and stars?
Younouss: Yes, you could say that. We didn't come out of nowhere. Everything has a soul, of course. How can we really explain the coming of the human being? What makes this human being live, apart from the visible organs and everything? What really elevates the mind? There are so many questions here. What makes people think? There are things we can't see. Whether the soul exists or not, I don't really know. So I'm obliged to bend to it, thinking it exists. Because this thought can benefit me. It enables me to do good, considerate and useful things for my fellow human beings. That's what social thinking is all about.
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Rolf: The idea that everything around me is animated is actually a very relevant contribution to more empathy, compassion and concern for my environment and my fellow human beings.
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Younouss: That's right. When Kumpo brings people together, it's always in a good way.
Rolf: Recently I came across the German expression ‘mein Smartphone hat seinen Geist aufgeben’ (My smartphone has given up the ghost), which is used for „my smartphone is broken“, isn't that funny?
Younouss: The thought that everything has a soul is also rooted in the language.
Rolf: As children, we were very receptive to the imagination of the entities around us. That's why it's a child speaking in this scene. A child of wisdom. When the child whispers in the film ‘look at the sky, it sees you’, the perspective suddenly shifts for me. It's no longer me who sees the sky, but the sky that sees me too. Everything I look at looks back. My gaze influences the gaze behind. The sky itself becomes an entity that looks back. The sky becomes an entity into which I project myself with empathy. The child's voice invites us to see everything around us as an animated existence. And therein lies the beauty of the Diola faith.
Younouss: There's also a dangerous aspect to the idea that everything has a soul. Because it can be frightening. It can cause anxiety in some people. Fortunately, Kumpo brings a positive spirit.
Younouss: That's right. When Kumpo brings people together, it's always in a good way.
Rolf: Recently I came across the German expression ‘mein Smartphone hat seinen Geist aufgeben’ (My smartphone has given up the ghost), which is used for „my smartphone is broken“, isn't that funny?
Younouss: The thought that everything has a soul is also rooted in the language.
Rolf: As children, we were very receptive to the imagination of the entities around us. That's why it's a child speaking in this scene. A child of wisdom. When the child whispers in the film ‘look at the sky, it sees you’, the perspective suddenly shifts for me. It's no longer me who sees the sky, but the sky that sees me too. Everything I look at looks back. My gaze influences the gaze behind. The sky itself becomes an entity that looks back. The sky becomes an entity into which I project myself with empathy. The child's voice invites us to see everything around us as an animated existence. And therein lies the beauty of the Diola faith.
Younouss: There's also a dangerous aspect to the idea that everything has a soul. Because it can be frightening. It can cause anxiety in some people. Fortunately, Kumpo brings a positive spirit.
Rolf: I realised that I didn't know enough about the various beliefs that are not defined by the widespread religions such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or Judaism. There's still a lot for me to learn. Christianity and Islam have too often dismissed other beliefs as false and have tried to oust them and proselytise, right up to the present day.
Younouss: It has to be said that Kumpo makes no distinction between religions. It's interested in people's choices. The reunification of people. It's inter-religion that comes first. Everyone believes what they should believe. The Kumpo is not there to distinguish. It's the link that it wants, whatever the religion.
Rolf: I'm impressed. I hope that this scene will encourage viewers to take a greater interest in different cultures and learn something positive from them. Do you know of any events where the French colonialists influenced the Kumpo tradition, or even banned it?
Younouss: No, I don't think so. At the time of colonialism, I don't think Kumpo was misplaced.
Rolf: For me, Kumpo is the most impressive and enriching social tradition I've ever seen. Thank you, Younouss, for giving me this experience and allowing us to do this film scene together.
Younouss: Thank you, Rolf. It's an honour to know that Senegalese and Casamance culture, and in particular the Diola culture of my village Tendimane, is being presented to the world. Thank you for making this possible.
Younouss: It has to be said that Kumpo makes no distinction between religions. It's interested in people's choices. The reunification of people. It's inter-religion that comes first. Everyone believes what they should believe. The Kumpo is not there to distinguish. It's the link that it wants, whatever the religion.
Rolf: I'm impressed. I hope that this scene will encourage viewers to take a greater interest in different cultures and learn something positive from them. Do you know of any events where the French colonialists influenced the Kumpo tradition, or even banned it?
Younouss: No, I don't think so. At the time of colonialism, I don't think Kumpo was misplaced.
Rolf: For me, Kumpo is the most impressive and enriching social tradition I've ever seen. Thank you, Younouss, for giving me this experience and allowing us to do this film scene together.
Younouss: Thank you, Rolf. It's an honour to know that Senegalese and Casamance culture, and in particular the Diola culture of my village Tendimane, is being presented to the world. Thank you for making this possible.
Here is a video in which Younouss speaks and communicates with the kumpo:
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Rolf: The voice we hear from you, Sylvia, the protagonist as a dancer in the industrial hall: „I embrace the thought of death, just as I find dust beautiful“ is for me an expression of this appreciation of the ephemeral.
Sylvia Ouattara (the dancer protagonist): ‘The awareness of our “ephemeral nature” should not make us anxious, but should encourage us to assume our “responsibilities” towards ourselves and our neighbours’, as Pope Francis has said.
Rolf: During the filming, we agreed that you would dance until you reached your own physical limits, until you were completely exhausted, and that we would let this process unfold and film it consciously too.
Sylvia: Exactly, this idea was a bit frightening insofar as neither you nor I nor Yvonne the costume designer knew how my body would react when it reached its physical limits. However, thinking about it aroused a great deal of curiosity in me, accompanied by various questions, including: What am I going to do when I'm exhausted? How will my body behave? Should I let myself be carried away by the music? Should I follow my body's movements? Or can I calculate everything?
Rolf: How was it for you?
Sylvia: I was both confused and excited 🤩
Rolf: When you found yourself on the ground again and breathing heavily, you were completely yourself, without confusion. The moment of wonderful exhaustion often possesses a magic.
Sylvia: I also think that in total exhaustion the human spirit takes complete control and gives us a second breath. For me, exhaustion is the moment when the body can no longer respond! It gives way to the spirit.
I discover the power of my mind! The mind begins to communicate openly with the body. We rediscover ourselves, we observe hidden facets of the human we are.
Rolf: Yes, in this scene, the protagonist you play feels the certainty of death as something affirmative. Perhaps some viewers perceive it differently.
Sylvia: I was both confused and excited 🤩
Rolf: When you found yourself on the ground again and breathing heavily, you were completely yourself, without confusion. The moment of wonderful exhaustion often possesses a magic.
Sylvia: I also think that in total exhaustion the human spirit takes complete control and gives us a second breath. For me, exhaustion is the moment when the body can no longer respond! It gives way to the spirit.
I discover the power of my mind! The mind begins to communicate openly with the body. We rediscover ourselves, we observe hidden facets of the human we are.
Rolf: Yes, in this scene, the protagonist you play feels the certainty of death as something affirmative. Perhaps some viewers perceive it differently.
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Sylvia: Perhaps.
I've experienced physical exhaustion in different ways, each with its own set of emotions. I could mention, for example, the day when...
(Pause)
...I'm not yet emotionally ready to explain these traumas.
Rolf: Ok, I understand.
(Pause)
Shall I talk about a personal experience, but one that wasn't traumatic?
Sylvia: Yes, of course.
Rolf: This scene reminds me of an experience I had on my bicylce trip from Zurich to Abidjan (at the end of which this scene in the film was shot). I was alone on my bike in the Western Sahara, heading south towards Senegal. Suddenly the road came to a halt. There was nothing in front of me but sand and sea. I looked at the map and saw that after about 6 kilometres to the south, a wider road was indicated again.
It was already 5 o'clock in the evening and I didn't know if I was going to be able to cross the soft sand without a path. Should I turn back? If not, would I have enough water with me? Would I risk getting lost? What if after six kilometres there was still nothing but sand?
The sea was rushing. The wind was blowing. The desert by the sea. I started pushing the bike through the sand. I was slower than on foot. It was hot. I took everything off. Not a single person in sight. After about a kilometre, I was totally exhausted. I was afraid of getting lost in this isolation.
Then suddenly, in this total exhaustion, in this subtle fear of death, in my nakedness in the desert, an unfathomable euphoria suddenly appeared inside me. I don't know from where. An awareness of my small life in an immensely large universe lit up.
Alone, on earth, in the universe, my mind, my body, in the desert, a small human being, among so many others. I'm submerged. Water and earth touched. Air and body mixed. I felt, quite surprisingly, a real awareness of the magnificent vanity of my own life. I felt alive and fundamentally happy in a way that I had rarely felt before.
Sylvia: Wow, it's a unique experience, you'll never forget that day!
I know that feeling of having the impression that it's all over, but it's also at that moment that you have to make the most important decision in your life, whether to resign yourself and fade away or, on the contrary, combine strength, energy and pick yourself up again.
Rolf: Where have you had this feeling before?
Sylvia: I've already felt it in the aforementioned experience during childbirth.
Rolf: I can imagine.
(Pause)
Do you consider yourself a believer?
Sylvia: Yes, I'm a believer.
Rolf: What does the phrase ‘He said I was ashes and dust, but he forgot I was stardust’ mean to you?
Sylvia: As a believer, I would quote Genesis 3v19: You shall return to the ground from which you were taken; for you are dust and to dust you shall return.
This memory is with us every day; it is the very essence of the cycle of life. We are dust and we will return to dust, but not without having reached the end for which the dust that I am took shape.
Stardust, which is indeed a cloudy block that intercepts light, represents the way in which humans are brought to shine ✨ on earth!
To reflect or reflect back the beauty of his creator!!! To impact ....to leave traces in this world before “returning” to dust.
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Rolf: Dust, which we no longer call human, is also elevated to the rank of something cosmic.
When you see yourself dancing in the film, what do you think of? How did your improvisational movements come together to become those in the film?
Sylvia: I was thinking about my life. Everything I've been through. Abuse, beatings, etc..... The neglected, forgotten woman that I had become and who only had dance as a means of expression, a means of being seen, a means of shining.
I let myself be carried away by my body, which in turn was carried away by the music we chose. Shooting in this dust was a challenge for me - how could I convey everything I was feeling? How do I translate my feelings? How to become one with this element? To translate the beauty of this thought death seen differently.
Rolf: What does this scream at the beginning mean to you?
Sylvia: That cry marked the end of the silence of this woman abandoned by society.
It was time to explain everything by dancing body to body with dust. The idea of developing dust as a visual in the film, akin to the way in which the body fades away after death, was enriching and magnificent.
When you see yourself dancing in the film, what do you think of? How did your improvisational movements come together to become those in the film?
Sylvia: I was thinking about my life. Everything I've been through. Abuse, beatings, etc..... The neglected, forgotten woman that I had become and who only had dance as a means of expression, a means of being seen, a means of shining.
I let myself be carried away by my body, which in turn was carried away by the music we chose. Shooting in this dust was a challenge for me - how could I convey everything I was feeling? How do I translate my feelings? How to become one with this element? To translate the beauty of this thought death seen differently.
Rolf: What does this scream at the beginning mean to you?
Sylvia: That cry marked the end of the silence of this woman abandoned by society.
It was time to explain everything by dancing body to body with dust. The idea of developing dust as a visual in the film, akin to the way in which the body fades away after death, was enriching and magnificent.
Rolf: Dust is a memory that helps your character become more alive. You stand up, you spin, you sway, a circle of life and death.
Sylvia: I'm rediscovering myself and observing hidden facets of the person I am.
(Pause)
What brought you to Abidjan, Rolf?
Rolf: There are several reasons, but one of them is this: a few years ago, I saw a play in Lausanne, Switzerland, about the „Coupé Décalé“ movement. The Ivorian ‘Gadoukou La Star’, among others, was in it. I was enthralled by him and by the play. I wanted to find out more about „Coupé Décalé“ and experience the vibe of Abidjan, where the „Coupé Décalé“ movement took off.
Sylvia: I'm so happy to have had this experience. It gave me a different perspective on life itself and a different approach to the idea of death! I was really delighted, thanks to Gadoukou la Star and his team! Thank you to you, Rolf, for having trusted me with this project!
In the hope that this message will travel the earth.
Rolf: Thanks to you, Sylvia, for trusting me too! It also gave me a different outlook on life!
Sylvia: I'm rediscovering myself and observing hidden facets of the person I am.
(Pause)
What brought you to Abidjan, Rolf?
Rolf: There are several reasons, but one of them is this: a few years ago, I saw a play in Lausanne, Switzerland, about the „Coupé Décalé“ movement. The Ivorian ‘Gadoukou La Star’, among others, was in it. I was enthralled by him and by the play. I wanted to find out more about „Coupé Décalé“ and experience the vibe of Abidjan, where the „Coupé Décalé“ movement took off.
Sylvia: I'm so happy to have had this experience. It gave me a different perspective on life itself and a different approach to the idea of death! I was really delighted, thanks to Gadoukou la Star and his team! Thank you to you, Rolf, for having trusted me with this project!
In the hope that this message will travel the earth.
Rolf: Thanks to you, Sylvia, for trusting me too! It also gave me a different outlook on life!
6
„HOMELESS“ SCENE
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Rolf: I met you, Jean-Luc, in a café in Abidjan. We immediately understood each other and talked openly about our lives and our worries.
Jean Luc: The first time in the café, I saw a light in you, humility in you and truth in you. It was a coincidence, when you approached me, because I was in that situation.
Rolf: You told me you'd been in prison, that you'd lost everything: friends, family, wife, house, money.
Jean Luc: Yes. The character I portrayed in the film is real. It's my life. It's a period in my life.
I've understood that I have to accept the situation I'm in and I can have a thought of gratitude that sends light and extracts joy. I express this thought because I'm breathing and I'm in good health, despite this situation.
Rolf: In the days that followed, we created this fictional film scene based on your experience and the Nina Simone song “Aint got no - I got Life”.
Rolf: I met you, Jean-Luc, in a café in Abidjan. We immediately understood each other and talked openly about our lives and our worries.
Jean Luc: The first time in the café, I saw a light in you, humility in you and truth in you. It was a coincidence, when you approached me, because I was in that situation.
Rolf: You told me you'd been in prison, that you'd lost everything: friends, family, wife, house, money.
Jean Luc: Yes. The character I portrayed in the film is real. It's my life. It's a period in my life.
I've understood that I have to accept the situation I'm in and I can have a thought of gratitude that sends light and extracts joy. I express this thought because I'm breathing and I'm in good health, despite this situation.
Rolf: In the days that followed, we created this fictional film scene based on your experience and the Nina Simone song “Aint got no - I got Life”.
Jean Luc: I decided to share my real experience in the form of a poem.
I realised that you shouldn't lose your purpose in life, that you should try to be happy with yourself, in any situation, and that you should have self-esteem and self-confidence.
Rolf: We wanted to portray a character who, in all the immense difficulties of life, finds an incredibly affirmative attitude to life, thanks to the confidence he has in his body and in his free will.
Jean Luc: I'm neither dead nor alive, but I'm breathing. Do you understand that?
Rolf: Just a little.
Jean Luc: When you breathe, when you are in the present, you are neither dead nor alive. It's the cosmic energy that fills your whole body. As well as breathing, there's something else. You can't be either dead or alive. Isn't that profound?
Rolf: Yes. A bit abstract, but it's us:)
Jean Luc: It's us.
Rolf: I realise afterwards that, as a privileged Swiss, I'm perhaps not in the right position to direct such a scene. I see the problem of wanting to express something on the theme of precariousness in Côte d'Ivoire as a white Swiss, because there's the risk that I'm reproducing stereotypes. For me, it was a question of breaking down any stereotypes with the character in the film and attributing to the character, in the face of the most difficult circumstances, the highest intellect, dignity and wisdom. At the time, when we met, it seemed appropriate to me to share your personal situation in a cinematic way. In this collaboration, we wanted to open up a perspective that we felt could be formative for others.
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Jean Luc: Yes, it's not a question of origin or skin colour. The scene is true and universal, it's a reality. You gave me the courage to show myself to the public, to free myself, to unburden myself of that part of me. I was able to express myself to you. I found the courage to express my situation. It gave me the strength not to be ashamed of showing my pain. To release all this forgiveness from me.
It was like a liberation for me. It gave me love for myself and self-confidence. I realised that the best gift in life is to know that nothing is permanent and to breathe in the knowledge that change is possible. After shooting this scene, nature gave me new horizons.
I rethought my relationships, I was turned on, I was in compliance with the law. These are the values it gave me. And these values are not easy to define. But you helped me to define these values, because I had them myself, but without knowing it. If you don't know, it's because you have no self-esteem, no self-awareness, no self-confidence.
It was like a liberation for me. It gave me love for myself and self-confidence. I realised that the best gift in life is to know that nothing is permanent and to breathe in the knowledge that change is possible. After shooting this scene, nature gave me new horizons.
I rethought my relationships, I was turned on, I was in compliance with the law. These are the values it gave me. And these values are not easy to define. But you helped me to define these values, because I had them myself, but without knowing it. If you don't know, it's because you have no self-esteem, no self-awareness, no self-confidence.
But through this film, I've understood that I have a value in this society, I have a place in this society.
I am an entity that can contribute to well-being. And I can also do my bit for society.
Be happy with what little you have. That's a value! And that's it!
Nothing can take that away from you.
It's opened my eyes and my mind. I'd like to thank you, because you've noticed a value in me, and you've made me realise that I need to have self-confidence.
Rolf: I'm touched by your words, Jean-Luc!
You triggered in me the need to be more grateful for my body as well. I'd like to thank you for your confidence in me and for sharing your wisdom with me, Jean-Luc.
I am an entity that can contribute to well-being. And I can also do my bit for society.
Be happy with what little you have. That's a value! And that's it!
Nothing can take that away from you.
It's opened my eyes and my mind. I'd like to thank you, because you've noticed a value in me, and you've made me realise that I need to have self-confidence.
Rolf: I'm touched by your words, Jean-Luc!
You triggered in me the need to be more grateful for my body as well. I'd like to thank you for your confidence in me and for sharing your wisdom with me, Jean-Luc.
8
„MENSTRUAL BLOOD“ SCENE
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Laetitia: This scene means for me a reappropriation of one's own body, because the topic of menstruation is a taboo subject. Menstruation is considered dirty in different cultures, even in cultures that consider themselves progressive. We can't talk about it, even in advertising, in many places, even if half the population has their periods, women are still ashamed of it. We have to hide, we have to whisper. And this scene is a way of saying that, I'm sick of all this. There's nothing to hide. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Periods are a natural function. And not only is it a natural function: without this function, everyone would not exist. It's thanks to this that the world exists. It's absurd to put all this shame around this phenomenon. So, this scene for me is a message to women and to the world to tell them there's nothing to be ashamed of.
Rolf: What is your journey to achieve this self-awareness to talk about it?
Laetitia: It's a journey that's a bit too long for me to talk about it now.
I wrote about it, among other things, in my book „Love and Justice.“
Self-confidence was a kind of domino effect. There was a period in my teenage life, where there was nothing about me that I appreciated. And the journey started on its own, with the appreciation of my hair, with the appreciation of my skin, my nose, and little by little, I began to appreciate everything that makes me a woman, a black woman. Things came quite gradually. And I was also lucky to be inspired by many women that I observed on the Internet, who were able to approach taboo subjects, even if it's not necessarily the rules. Everything that we try to make taboo, sometimes, is not very logical.
Laetitia: This scene means for me a reappropriation of one's own body, because the topic of menstruation is a taboo subject. Menstruation is considered dirty in different cultures, even in cultures that consider themselves progressive. We can't talk about it, even in advertising, in many places, even if half the population has their periods, women are still ashamed of it. We have to hide, we have to whisper. And this scene is a way of saying that, I'm sick of all this. There's nothing to hide. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Periods are a natural function. And not only is it a natural function: without this function, everyone would not exist. It's thanks to this that the world exists. It's absurd to put all this shame around this phenomenon. So, this scene for me is a message to women and to the world to tell them there's nothing to be ashamed of.
Rolf: What is your journey to achieve this self-awareness to talk about it?
Laetitia: It's a journey that's a bit too long for me to talk about it now.
I wrote about it, among other things, in my book „Love and Justice.“
Self-confidence was a kind of domino effect. There was a period in my teenage life, where there was nothing about me that I appreciated. And the journey started on its own, with the appreciation of my hair, with the appreciation of my skin, my nose, and little by little, I began to appreciate everything that makes me a woman, a black woman. Things came quite gradually. And I was also lucky to be inspired by many women that I observed on the Internet, who were able to approach taboo subjects, even if it's not necessarily the rules. Everything that we try to make taboo, sometimes, is not very logical.
Rolf: Just as menstruation is often taboo in society, death is also often taboo. For example, the death of animals slaughtered for food is often taboo. But that is the subject of another scene in the film. If you think about death, were there times when you were afraid?
Laetitia: There is no time when I think clearly about death. It doesn't happen. Except when someone dies. It's a bit of a slap in the face. I don't think about death in a deep way. I think about death in a superficial way. Honestly, for me death is life. I try to live from day to day, while still trying to think a little about the future. I'm not really afraid of death. Maybe more of the death of my loved ones than of myself.
Rolf: How did the filming go for you?
Laetitia: It was funny, amusing. I liked the concept of using blood to paint.
It corresponded to the level of provocation, the level of audacity that I have at the base, whether in my art or in my daily life. So it was not difficult to do. I felt very comfortable and I had fun.
Rolf: Me too, but i was also a bit nervous in the beginning because you're famous. For those who don't know: Laetitia makes sculptures with her own hair and has a huge following on Instagram: www.instagram.com/laetitiaky
9
„GOAT SACRIFICE“ SCENE
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Rolf: The goat scene represents a moment where the protagonist you play, Alphaoumar, sacrifices a goat and simultaneously becomes aware of his own ephemeral nature and future death. What the protagonist of the film feels then can be read on your face, Alphaoumar, in different ways.
What does this scene mean to you?
Alphoumar: It's not easy to talk about this in French, because I didn't study French. This scene was performed during a baptism. In our Muslim tradition, we organize a party two weeks after the birth, during which we sacrifice a goat and, at the same time, the father announces the baby's name. The child is thus baptized. Afterwards, we all eat and drink together.
Rolf: The goat scene represents a moment where the protagonist you play, Alphaoumar, sacrifices a goat and simultaneously becomes aware of his own ephemeral nature and future death. What the protagonist of the film feels then can be read on your face, Alphaoumar, in different ways.
What does this scene mean to you?
Alphoumar: It's not easy to talk about this in French, because I didn't study French. This scene was performed during a baptism. In our Muslim tradition, we organize a party two weeks after the birth, during which we sacrifice a goat and, at the same time, the father announces the baby's name. The child is thus baptized. Afterwards, we all eat and drink together.
Rolf: Thank you for allowing me to experience this with you. I had never experienced a Muslim baptism before. It was wonderful and communal for me.
Alphoumar: Yes, it was a beautiful baptism.
Rolf: As someone who grew up in Switzerland, witnessing the sacrifice of an animal is not a common occurrence. If you eat meat, I consider it a necessity to see from time to time how the meat ends up on your plate, and if you don't want to see this, you should draw the sensible consequences.
In Swiss culture, everything is done so that no one "has to" witness the slaughter of an animal. For most people, it is a veiled, hidden, repressed reality that they do not want to be confronted with. The killing of an animal is not part of Swiss culture. I think in general that European culture tends to evolve towards a situation where death no longer has a place, where death is hidden, where death is repressed as much as possible. In my opinion, the scene represents the instructive presence of death in life. Europe still has a lot to learn from Guinean culture.
10
SCENE "EUPHORIA IN THE NIGHT“
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Rolf: I spent the whole day alone on my bicycle in the south of Senegal. It was my birthday and I had already accepted that I would probably celebrate it alone this year.
When I arrived in Kolda, the Senegalese football team won the African Cup that very night and I was not alone at all. Everyone rushed into the street, sang, partied and danced. I had never seen such collective euphoria in my life.
Doudou Touré, you celebrated the moment with your whistle and did this performance in the street.
Doudou: Yes, I am like that. That day I was very happy, that is why I acted like that.
Rolf: I spent the whole day alone on my bicycle in the south of Senegal. It was my birthday and I had already accepted that I would probably celebrate it alone this year.
When I arrived in Kolda, the Senegalese football team won the African Cup that very night and I was not alone at all. Everyone rushed into the street, sang, partied and danced. I had never seen such collective euphoria in my life.
Doudou Touré, you celebrated the moment with your whistle and did this performance in the street.
Doudou: Yes, I am like that. That day I was very happy, that is why I acted like that.
Rolf: For me, that night was a blatant and wonderful experience of collective ecstasy and communion.
Doudou: For me too, it was very special, this victory party!
Rolf: What does that mean to you?
Doudou: Rolf, I can't even explain, bilahi.
Rolf: For me, this scene also symbolizes human civilization, in which many bodies spontaneously bond in ecstasy, and then unite in a kind of dilated perception of time. This contrasts with the previous scene: the calm world without civilisation, only the Kumpo (the straw creature) and nature.
11
"FLOWER PETAL DANCE“ SCENE
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Rolf: The scene with the dancing petals was shot in Morocco, while I was cycling towards Senegal. There was a brewing storm in the air. It was difficult to keep my balance on the bike. I noticed that people were gradually leaving the road. I felt less and less safe to continue cycling. Suddenly, I saw a small tornado on the sidewalk, whirling white petals with plastic waste. I stopped and witnessed a very small natural phenomenon. The tornado was always forming in the same place.
I decided to immortalize this moment. At the beginning of the trip, I didn't know if a film would see the light of day, but after this scene, I thought about what kind of film.
I wrote the poem in the whispered voice during the editing phase.
It refers spiritually to the first scene with the Kumpo, the straw creature, which stands for the Diola's belief that everything has a soul. The child addresses his mother, Mother Earth. It turns out that the child is not a human child, but a flower petal. The petal is animated and speaks: "I have fallen, but I can dance, better than ever, with your brother the wind and my new friend, the plastic".
These lines came to me as I watched the pictures over and over again.
Rolf: The scene with the dancing petals was shot in Morocco, while I was cycling towards Senegal. There was a brewing storm in the air. It was difficult to keep my balance on the bike. I noticed that people were gradually leaving the road. I felt less and less safe to continue cycling. Suddenly, I saw a small tornado on the sidewalk, whirling white petals with plastic waste. I stopped and witnessed a very small natural phenomenon. The tornado was always forming in the same place.
I decided to immortalize this moment. At the beginning of the trip, I didn't know if a film would see the light of day, but after this scene, I thought about what kind of film.
I wrote the poem in the whispered voice during the editing phase.
It refers spiritually to the first scene with the Kumpo, the straw creature, which stands for the Diola's belief that everything has a soul. The child addresses his mother, Mother Earth. It turns out that the child is not a human child, but a flower petal. The petal is animated and speaks: "I have fallen, but I can dance, better than ever, with your brother the wind and my new friend, the plastic".
These lines came to me as I watched the pictures over and over again.
I imagined, like a child, the story of a petal that first lives as a single petal in a flower, firmly anchored with its other beloved petals - and a time comes when the flower disintegrates, they separate, the petals fall individually, in other words the family or the partnership breaks up. Only at the moment of separation can the petal truly dance, because it is no longer fixed, although it feels lost. And it makes new friends: wind and plastic.
Considering plastic as a friend with a soul can have something strange and "neo-animistic" about it.
In the designation "plastic, my friend" one can also see a critical commentary on humanity's intervention in nature. Nature and the petal seem to have no choice but to integrate the problematic waste of humans into their community, to animate it too and eventually „to love“ it. Nature as an organism that does not judge, that accepts and welcomes everything, even what is heavy.
Before the trip, I had experienced a serious separation and mourning. I fell into a hole so deep and dark that I had never known in my life. During this dark time, I learned to dance. I learned to dance again. Hence the phrase "I have fallen, but I can dance, better than ever".
In the deepest grief, I danced every day, at night in the parks, at noon in my room, in the evening in the courtyards, despite the sadness, or because of the sadness. I felt like dance had been the final gift of the person who has left my life. Again, the theme of seeing the body as an ultimate, ephemeral, ever-present gift resonates with me.
12
„MY LIFE“ SCENE
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Rolf: Chapter 2 "My Life" consists of an image that lasts 0.1 seconds.
This flash is an allusion to my experience of time in relation to a larger context. In the time horizon of the earth, the stones, the elements, my life is a briefest instant, a tiny flash in nothingness.
Rolf: Chapter 2 "My Life" consists of an image that lasts 0.1 seconds.
This flash is an allusion to my experience of time in relation to a larger context. In the time horizon of the earth, the stones, the elements, my life is a briefest instant, a tiny flash in nothingness.
This awareness of my brief passage on this earth is for me a last reminder of the ephemeral nature of my body.
At the end of my life, just before I die, I will probably look back on my life and it will pass before me like a flash.
This image is a mixture of my almost black burnt beets in the oven and artwork by Jackson Pollock.
I hope that the viewers will welcome this chapter with a wink.
13
GENERAL
I would like to clarify that these are our personal thoughts. We don't want our interpretation to overwrite the individual interpretations of the viewers, because these scenes, like the whole film, can be read in very different ways, and each way has its justification.
14
POSTCOLONIALISM, EXOTICISM, CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
Rolf: I try to reflect my position as a white Swiss man who is making a film in West Africa. I am aware that, in the context of a potentially problematic post-colonization, I have to establish responsible partnerships with people and communities. I realize that up until now, whiteness and Western thinking have been too much centered and that it is important to decenter this in the future. I try to support this approach.
It is time to welcome ideas, thoughts, stories and perspectives that put forward Ivorian or Senegalese people, for example. Colonialism was and still is a serious political and economic problem. In the economic sphere in particular, hierarchies and power systems from the Global North remain established in West Africa.
I would like to encourage everyone in the Global North to take a greater interest in African voices, for example in the fields of cinema (fespaco.bf), journalism (africanofilter.org/), philosophy (toughconvos.com/female-african-philosophers) and music („boomplay“ is an african spotify alternative), and to learn from them.
I hope that this film will make a small contribution to a respectful relationship.
In the film, the self-determination and great intellect of all participants were valued. The content was born from a mutual exchange. I hope that the film will go against a division of cultures and that it will inspire all the more inclusion and „living together“.
The film is not aimed at profit. If it makes a financial gain despite all expectations, the profits will be shared among the contributors.
I am on a learning path and I probably did not do everything right in this film, where I did not think enough about my position. We shot the film without a large crew, without a real budget and in a discreet way, with the smallest possible hierarchy. With this film and this trip, I wanted to get away from my known environment, learn from others, close a previous personal grief and seek inspiration to be able to reorient myself. I invite those who have a critical attitude towards the film to enter into a constructive dialogue with me so that we can improve things together.
together.
together.
Rolf: I try to reflect my position as a white Swiss man who is making a film in West Africa. I am aware that, in the context of a potentially problematic post-colonization, I have to establish responsible partnerships with people and communities. I realize that up until now, whiteness and Western thinking have been too much centered and that it is important to decenter this in the future. I try to support this approach.
It is time to welcome ideas, thoughts, stories and perspectives that put forward Ivorian or Senegalese people, for example. Colonialism was and still is a serious political and economic problem. In the economic sphere in particular, hierarchies and power systems from the Global North remain established in West Africa.
I would like to encourage everyone in the Global North to take a greater interest in African voices, for example in the fields of cinema (fespaco.bf), journalism (africanofilter.org/), philosophy (toughconvos.com/female-african-philosophers) and music („boomplay“ is an african spotify alternative), and to learn from them.
I hope that this film will make a small contribution to a respectful relationship.
In the film, the self-determination and great intellect of all participants were valued. The content was born from a mutual exchange. I hope that the film will go against a division of cultures and that it will inspire all the more inclusion and „living together“.
The film is not aimed at profit. If it makes a financial gain despite all expectations, the profits will be shared among the contributors.
I am on a learning path and I probably did not do everything right in this film, where I did not think enough about my position. We shot the film without a large crew, without a real budget and in a discreet way, with the smallest possible hierarchy. With this film and this trip, I wanted to get away from my known environment, learn from others, close a previous personal grief and seek inspiration to be able to reorient myself. I invite those who have a critical attitude towards the film to enter into a constructive dialogue with me so that we can improve things together.
together.
together.