Nov 13 – Mati Diop: A Thousand Suns
Posted by | George William Price | Posted on | November 8, 2014
Thursday, November 13th | Mati Diop in person!
Still from A Thousand Suns (Mati Diop, 2013). Courtesy of the artist.
Known for dreamlike shorts that experiment with the boundaries between documentary and fiction, award-winning French filmmaker Mati Diop mined her own history for A Thousand Suns. The film explores the public and private legacies of the seminal Senegalese film Touki Bouki (1972), directed by her uncle Djibril Diop Mambéty. She focuses on Magaye Niang, a farmer living outside of Dakar, who, as a young man, played the film’s lead. As Niang reflects on the events of his past, Diop meditates on Senegal’s history, the role of its cinema, and her own place in it. Accompanied by Diop’s haunting 2009 short Atlantiques, which spins feverish tales of European opportunity and perilous sea crossings.
2009–13, Senegal/France, multiple formats, ca 65 min + discussion.
In French, Wolof, and Swahili with English subtitles.
Mati Diop (b. 1982, Paris, France) is an actress and filmmaker. She received an advanced degree from Le Fresnoy (National Studio of Contemporary Arts). Her films have been featured at festivals around the world, including Venice, Rotterdam, and the Marseille International Festival of Documentary Film in France. She has recently been the subject of retrospectives at the Viennale, the London Film Festival, and the Museum of Moving Image in New York City. As an actress, she has played leads in Claire Denis’ 35 Shots of Rum (2008), Antonio Campos’ Simon Killer (2012), and Benjamin Crotty’s Fort Buchanan (2013).
About
Conversations at the Edge is a weekly series of screenings, performances, and talks by groundbreaking media artists.
CATE is organized by SAIC's Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation in collaboration with the Gene Siskel Film Center and SAIC's Video Data Bank.
Programs take place at the Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State / Chicago, IL / 312.846.2600), unless otherwise noted.
