Boukary Sawadogo, professor at Marlboro College in the state of Vermont in the United States, discusses his new book Les cinémas francophones ouest-africains, published by the Paris-based l'Harmattan. Interview and translation from French by Beti Ellerson.

Boukary, congratulations on the publication of your book, Les cinemas francophones ouest-africains, which in fact is adapted from your doctoral thesis entitled "Altérité dérangeante et innovante dans les cinémas francophones ouest- africains de 1990 à 2005". Why this subject for research?

Through this work I wanted to examine the changes that have taken place in African cinema since the 1990s as are evident in the aesthetic and thematic treatment as well as modes of production and distribution. To deal with these mutations through an analysis of the representation of characters at the "margin" provides not only a better understanding of the "centre", or the social norms that constitute dominant discourse, but also to see in what ways the treatment of marginal figures translates a certain evolution in post-1990 cinemas, characterised by the passage from collective to individual, the individual's confrontation with the preeminence of her/his community, and the female heroism of everyday life.

According to the dictionary, Le Robert, alterity is a philosophical concept signifying "the characteristic of that which is other". Through the use of cinema your study highlights three figures of alterity, the mad person, the homosexual, the woman. Talk about your approach as well as your choice of films and the characters.

My approach was primarily deconstructionist and feminist, based on the notion of taking voice. The analysis of each marginal character was structured around three films. For the homosexual, the selected films were Dakan by Mohamed Camara, Woubi chéri by Philip Brooks and Laurent Bocahut, and Karmen Gei by Joseph Ramaka Gai. Dakan, whose focus is on two high school students, Sori and Manga, is the first Francophone African homosexual film. By its documentary nature, Woubi cheri gives voice to homosexuals of Abidjan, thus offering a different perspective. As Dakan, Karmen Gei is also a pioneering film in its treatment of a lesbian relationship between Karmen and Angélique.

In terms of madness, I chose Sia, le rêve du python by Dani Kouyaté, Tasuma by Kollo Sanou and Une fenêtre ouverte by Khady Sylla. The characters of Kerfa and Soba in the first two films contrast well with that of Aminta Ngom in the latter film. A contrast that brings out the difference in the treatment and the perception of the madness of men and of women.

In terms of the woman figure, through the image of the woman as leader, I demonstrated that the representation of the African woman as disempowered and victim does not reflect the historical reality of the role of the woman. This explains my choice of the films Moolaadé by Sembène Ousmane, Taafe Fanga by Adama Drabo and Une femme pas comme les autres by Abdoulaye Dao.



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