With “Atlantics,” a supernatural star-crossed love story told against the backdrop of the migration crisis, Mati Diop became the first black woman director to screen a feature film in Competition at Cannes. As she revealed after a Deadline Awardsline screening of the Senegal-set pic, she’s proud of the milestone — not in and of itself, but because of the positive impact it might have on other filmmakers.
“Being the first black woman to go into competition doesn’t belong to me,” Diop emphasized. “I’m glad for the people who are sensitive to my film, I’m more than honored to become — if they want — inspiration or something that makes them see that it is possible to make your film as you want it to look like. That’s incredibly touching when I imagine that it can inspire people.”
However, from Diop’s perspective, her race and gender are not noteworthy on their own. What is deserving of praise, however, is the precedent she’s setting with her feature directorial debut: that stories about the black experience can be successfully told by black women, and be the center of awards buzz, to boot.
“It’s so strong to feel that it can move the lines like that,” Diop said. “But to be a black woman is not an accomplishment. It’s just a fact.”
For the inaugural recipient of TIFF’s Mary Pickford Award, the specific context was the more exciting, and important, aspect of making “Atlantics.” Its protagonist, Ada (Mame Bineta Sane), is in love with Souleiman (Traore) but is set to enter into an arranged marriage with someone else. Souleiman migrates in search of other opportunities, but he continues to haunt Ada — perhaps literally — after he’s gone. Diop developed the feature from her 2009 doc short “Atlantiques,” which follows Senegalese friends attempting to migrate across the sea by boat.
“I kept on thinking about the desire, but mostly the need, to write a feature about the situation of migration but from another point of view,” Diop explained. “The first major choice was to talk about the disappeared youth in the ocean from the point of view of the living, of the one who stays, in order to talk about the experience of losing these people, of how does it transform the everyday life and imagination of the people who stay.”
Diop, who is French-Senegalese felt a “huge responsibility” to weave the specific realities of post-colonialism into the story. “The post-colonial issues and complexity is something that’s part of me,” she stressed. “That what makes making a film in this context even more challenging, ambitious, and exciting because it becomes territorial.”
Diop picked up the Grand Prix at Cannes for “Atlantics.” Since then, the film has screened at TIFF, New York Film Festival, and BFI London, among other fests. Diop won the Sutherland Award for best first feature at the latter. “Atlantics” is also Senegal’s pick for the 2020 Oscars’ Best International Feature Film race.
Documentary “A Thousand Suns” and shorts “Liberian Boy” and “Big in Vietnam” are among Diop’s previous directing credits. Also an actress, she has appeared in works such as Claire Denis’ “35 Shots of Rum.”
“Atlantics” opens in limited release November 15, and begins streaming on Netflix November 29.
