“Out there is one big struggle. You’ll have no father or mother. It’ll just be you, all on your own. If you’d rather face that reality than stay in this house of happiness, then let’s leave.”
The above advice is given to Ada, one half of the lovers in the center of Mati Diop’s absorbing debut “Atlantics” (2019). This tale casts a strong spell over you. At first, you feel you’ve seen this story before. It starts as a realistic feature – almost documentary-like – taking place amongst the impoverished in Dakar, Senegal – introducing the struggle of migrants and a love story where the female has been forced into prearranged marriage. Then without losing its deep-rootedness, it starts effortlessly adding a supernatural layer that only makes the director’s vision become more meditative while making the viewer more connected to the plights both big and small. Diop’s grasp on the material and the layers of poignancy and ambition are reasons to rejoice.
“Atlantics” marked the first time a black female director was featured in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where it garnered the Jury’s Grand Prix prize. Born in France, Diop started as an actress – starring in Claire Denis’ 2008 film “35 Shots of Rum.” She comes from a family of artists. She is the niece of influential Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty who received international acclaim for his experimental and non-linear narrative techniques. Her father is famous musician Wasis Diop who blends traditional Senegales music with jazz and pop.
In front of the ocean, a tower building is being erected. The construction workers are demanding their deserved wages. The developer, Mr. N’Diaye, has not paid them for the past four months – and their families are starving. Included among them is young Suleiman who is infatuated with the Atlantic as he rides away in the back of a pick-up truck. He’s looking forward to seeing Ada – and their furtive meetings. Even she notices his infatuation with the ocean. “You’re just watching the ocean – you’re not even looking at me,” she points out.
There are forces pulling them apart. Out of necessity, Suleiman will embark on a boat ride with his co-workers to seek better fortune across the waters in Spain. Ada is betrothed to Omar who is obscenely rich. He doesn’t intend to be monogamous – and lives in an ostentatious house with a surreally over-the-top, all white matrimonial bedroom. Both Ada and Suleiman are tethered to the system. For him going across the ocean is a way to break free. She doesn’t have much choice – and it causes her great agony.
On the eve of her wedding, there’s word that Suleiman’s body was retrieved by a fisherman. At the reception, somebody claims to have seen him. A fire makes everyone evacuate the party. The following day a young detective knows it is arson and suspects Suleiman is the culprit. In the meantime, N’Diaye has been receiving mysterious visits at night asking for him to repay the money he owes. I shouldn’t tell you anymore – but that it all becomes a mixture of superstition – as well as a story of police investigation and the revenge of the oppressed.
Diop creates an extraordinary look to the film. There’s a dusty and milky effect at the beginning of film – with the futuristic building in the horizon – and the ocean mist enveloping it all. Although it all feels grounded, there’s a spiritual feel to the proceedings. As the movie progresses – and the more mysterious aspects start to take over, the film becomes more expressive. There’s a haunting oceanfront bar which the young couples frequent. On the dancefloor you hear the ocean waves – and as the lovers dance – a laser light will beam over them – creating a pattern of stars – and mutating designs. It adds a futuristic as well as transcendent quality. There will be other unforgettably poignant visuals. The sight of young women forcefully walking barefoot through the nights streets of Dakar is one of those.
I cannot wait to see what Mati Diop does next. She’s definitely one to eagerly watch for.
Suleiman: “Your eyes never left me. They were there, within me, pouring their light into the depths.”
Love,
Roger
Available to stream on Netflix.
Written by Mati Diop and Olivier Demangel
Directed by Mati Diop
Starring Ibrahima Traoré, Mame Sane, Amadou Mbow, Nicole Sougou, Aminata Kane, Mariama Gassama, Coumba Dieng, Ibrahima Mbaye and Diankou Sembene
106 minutes
Director and Co-Writer Mati Diop on “Atlantics”
“I started to imagine my film 10 years ago, before what people now call ‘the migration crisis’. Personally, I don’t believe there is a migration crisis, but a moral and political crisis. As the daughter of an immigrant, migration is part of my history and identity and so I see it as a complex and existential reality rather than a subject. “When I returned to Senegal in 2009 to reinvest and explore my African origins and legacy, I discovered the youth generation were escaping the country on mass for Europe, by boat, in search of a better future. The loss of so many young people at sea deeply troubled me and I was sick of the media misinterpreting their stories. So I decided to make a short documentary in which a young man recounts his own experience of the crossing. I decided to turn it into a feature film because I felt I had more to say and I wanted it to reach a larger audience. These people’s lives shouldn’t be in vain; migration affects everybody.”…“The idea was to write a ghost story about a generation who perished at sea, the omnipresence of their absence and the girls of a neighbourhood who are left behind and haunted by the spirits of these lost boys. I wanted the film to give a place for these spirits to find refuge; to ask for justice; to get the money they’re owed; to make love to their lover one last time. It’s a very new subject, born from talking about people as being ‘illegal’ when they leave the country they are born in. It’s essential for film and literature to make the oppressed not only visible, but truly embodied.” (vogue.co.uk)
Diop on the Making of “Atlantics”
“I chose Thiaroye — a fishing community in the suburbs — for aesthetic reasons first and foremost, but also because of its history. When African soldiers [who fought for the French Free army] were brought here after the Second World War, they asked for equal pay to their white counterparts. The French officers refused and killed [as many as 300 of] them when they protested. That night [30 November 1944] is known as the Massacre of Thiaroye and it isn’t a well-known story because a lot of effort has been made to cover it up. “The boys of Thiaroye who take boats to come to Europe today are the descendants of those murdered soldiers. It’s interesting to set a story about revenge on the same soil, but it’s more of a gesture; it’s enough for me to know why I’m shooting in this place. The story between Senegal and France is a violent one, but my generation and I are transcending it and creating a new narrative.” (vogue.co.uk)
Diop on Casting “Atlantics”
“Casting the right people and training them to act is always the most challenging thing I guess, because the characters are the heart of the film. I have a very documentary-style approach to casting. To find Souleiman, I went to a construction site because I wanted him to know this reality. Dior [Ada’s best friend] worked as a barmaid at the time and her life was quite close to her character’s. “It took me seven months to find Ada. I was about to delay shooting, but then I saw this girl [Mame Bineta Sane] one day in Thiaroye and it was beautiful because she appeared when I wasn’t consciously looking. The fact that she was missing up to this point made me even more involved in casting the right person because I chose the rest of the characters as though I was her; who would be my girlfriends, who would be my lover?” (vogue.co.uk)
Diop on the Importance of “Atlantics”
“I don’t think of Atlantics as Senegalese cinema, but just as cinema. Djibril has a huge legacy and there has been a lack of filmmaking across Africa since his passing. It felt empty and that’s me speaking objectively, not just as his niece. I wanted to make Atlantics in Senegal so the legacy wasn’t lost, that would be a tragedy. It’s important to have an African-eye on Africa. Films aren’t just for telling stories — they should create an impact that encourages other people to make work.” (vogue.co.uk)
About Director and Co-Writer Mati Diop
Mati Diop is a filmmaker working in both France and Senegal. Her formally adventurous films explore exile and identity, memory and loss using fiction and documentary tools. Her most recent film, “Mille soleils” (“A Thousand Suns”) (2013), explores the intimate and collective heritage of her uncle Djibril Diop Mambéty’s iconic film “Touki Bouki” (1973). The film won awards in several international film festivals, including the FID Marseille international film festival. At Radcliffe, Diop is writing a feature film, “Fire, Next Time,” a gothic coming-of-age tale about the disenchanted youth of the 2000s in Dakar. Diop studied at Le Fresnoy (National Studio of the Contemporary Arts) and Le Pavillon of the Palais de Tokyo. Her films – “Mille soleils,” “Snow Canon” (2012), “Big in Vietnam” (2011), and “Atlantiques” (2009)—have been selected for and received awards in numerous international film festivals, such as the New York Film Festival, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Venice Film Festival. She has had retrospectives at the BFI London Film Festival, the Museum of the Moving Image, in New York, the Viennale, and soon at FICValdivia (Valdivia International Film Festival), in Chile. (radcliffe.harvard.edu)