“Our fair helps female film students find employment” – Rita Ambeu – Director of the Salon du cinéma au féminin

Ayila: You are the organizer of the ”Salon du Cinéma au Féminin” which will be held from  4 to 6 November 2021 in Abidjan. How was the project born and what motivated it?

Rita Ambeu : I did my training in South Africa where I lived for 12 years. And there was always something to do. Either with the Ministry of Culture, or with young film organisations, there were free workshops organised in schools and neighbourhoods. And I came to Côte d’Ivoire with this dynamic. When I arrived, I wondered why the field was so quiet; why there was not enough training, master classes… I learned from the Nigerians that you should not always have your hand out, you should not spend your time asking the government, the authorities, but you should also know how to encourage the authorities to help you and you should be able to give something to your country. I came here with the aim of putting my talent and my knowledge at the disposal of my country and other young people like me. I am a very motivated person who does not give up easily and who likes to do a good job, to have access to opportunities and to create opportunities. I thought why not try to do something that I would like to be done in my country. I noticed that it was difficult for young girls to break into the (film) business when they end up as students. They don’t know who to count on or who to have as a model in Côte d’Ivoire to be able to enter the industry, which very often discourages them and pushes them to change jobs. And I said to myself that there really is a problem that needs to be solved and I sat down with my team and explained to them what I had noticed and what I would like to see changed. That’s how the Women’s Film Salon was born. I decided to give myself the opportunity to learn from other women who already have international recognition but also to give this opportunity to young girls. Because it’s not easy for everyone to approach people and ask them questions. And these women are not always available. So when there is a person who can approach these people without fear, that person should share it with others.

Ayila: Your event is aimed at women working in cinema. How is this event different from other events that are already dedicated to women on the continent such as other festivals in several African countries, what is the particularity of the show you are organizing?

Rita Ambeu: As I said before, the Women’s Film Fair is different in that our fair is about the professional insertion of women film students. Whereas other women’s festivals are aimed at professionals who can produce, who have already made a film.

 

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You are in the training section, how will this training take place in concrete terms? Is it linked to the pitch competition you have launched?

We have launched different calls for applications, a call for applications for the pitch competition and a call for applications for three trainings. All the people who will be selected for the pitch competition will be prepared before the day of the pitch by professionals from Benin, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, etc. In addition to this, they will benefit from the various training courses at the fair. For the master classes, there are students who register to benefit from the training of Siam Marley, Marina Niava and others. The pitch candidates are automatically included in the training sessions. Concerning the trainings, we have Siam Marley who gives a training on the technique of directing and staging, we have Marina Niava who gives a training on the techniques of reading a script and deciphering and we have Adelaide Ouattara who gives a training on the policy of career management, how as an actor or actress a person must take care of his or her image, use it to win contracts, present his or her artistic CV, filmography and others.

Apart from the training sessions with the personalities you mentioned, what other activities will be held during the fair?

Apart from the training sessions, on the first day there will be a panel on the position of women in the cinema. Usually it is the big channels like A+ that bring big actors to Côte d’Ivoire so that they can meet their fans. And we thought why not organise an event for the local population to meet the local actors. So we decided to organise a meet-up with the actresses of the successful series Les Coups de la Vie: Yasmine Reda, Vanessa Patinvoh, Guei Eve. We also decided to organise a partners’ cocktail. This cocktail consists of inviting all our partners as well as film professionals and students who participated in the meet-up as well as the best students from each training centre in Côte d’Ivoire. They will come to this cocktail to meet professionals and during this evening we will announce the winner of the pitch; we will also give honorary prizes to women who have really had an impact on cinema in Côte d’Ivoire and at the same time we will screen a documentary that we are making as part of the show, which we have entitled Les Héroïnes du 7eme Art.

The salon is run by Golden Arrows Productions, which already runs On Move Magazine, can you tell us about this structure?

Golden Arrows Productions is the experience of several African countries united in two people. It is South Africa, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Senegal, etc. We have noticed that the Chinese, the Latin Americans and the Americans have led us to love their stories, to love the things they present to us about their countries through series and films. And we notice that today these same people come to Africa, take African stories, develop them in writing at home, come back to Africa to shoot them before returning home with these stories. We said to ourselves: how can we improve this? We have to recognise that today the world is thirsty to discover Africa. There are so many mysteries around Africa that even Africans need to discover Africa through images. It’s not up to the strangers to tell us our stories, it’s up to us to give these people who come, the chance to discover who the African really is through the stories we write, through the films, through the series. And it is only by putting seriousness and passion into it and by fighting through our films that we will be able to truly restore the image of Africa that we are used to seeing in the media. This is why Golden Arrows Productions was created.

What is your view on the evolution of cinema in Africa and what role do you think women can play to further develop this cinema?

In terms of production in Africa, I have noticed that there is a new generation of filmmakers who are working hard, who are looking to co-produce between African countries, but I think we need training – we also need to benefit from the experience of the older generation of African filmmakers. I said earlier that I made a documentary and I noticed that there is a break between our generation and the older generation. It is as if there is a gap that we need to fill. We need transmission channels so that this older generation can share with us the experience of their production era. And if we combine this knowledge with the knowledge of our time, I think we will shine. Nevertheless, there are many beautiful things being done in Africa at the moment, productions are multiplying, in South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, there are many things to do and we are on the right path.

Interview by: Rostand Wandja