Clap Ivoire Festival : Mamadou Diop wins the best fiction prize 2020

Clap Ivoire Festival is a short film competition aimed to promote young directors across West Africa

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 20th edition which took place from the 15th – 18th September was held digitally through the National Cinema office Cote D’Ivoire (ONAC – CI).

This edition had 18 films in competition for best fiction, with only one winner and 4 persons who emerged victorious in this year’s edition

• Overall/ Grand Prix – ’Binan-Dahô, au pays des danses Lobis’’, by Jemima Kambou (Ivory Cost)
• Best Fiction – ’Palanteer M’bedd’’, by Mamadou Diop (Senegal)
• Best Documentary – Les patrouilleurs’’, by Boubacar Djingarey Maïga (Niger)
• Ministry of Culture and Francophonie Price – ‘’Orisha’’, d’Adje- Chabi Olayémi (Benin)

During an interview with I’APS. Mamadou said the movie was inspired and dedicated to artists like Pablo Picasso and Alfred Hitchcock whose work he admires and has had an impact on him.

” Palanteer M’bedd ” by Mamadou Diop tells the story of a painter lacking inspiration, thus posing reflection on human relationships and the relationship to others, to life. According to the synopsis of the film, the painter Moussa moves to a new neighborhood where, barely arrived, he is intrigued by the calm that reigns in his alley. He never sees his neighbors except for a young girl who lives opposite his place of residence. A girl who might just be his new muse.

The film questions our knowing, how we take things in life, often they are not what they appear to be. Appearances, they say, are often deceptive, but you can always laugh about it if you take it on the safe side, or cry, ” says Mamadou Diop.

Sharon Dione