Originally published in Sisters of the Screen: Women of Africa on Film Video and Television by Beti Ellerson. Africa World Press, Trenton, NJ, 2000. Interview by Beti Ellerson during the Vues d'Afrique Festival in April 1997, Montreal, Quebec. Translated from French.
Aïssatou, you are a pioneer in the area of visual communications in Niger. Could you talk a bit about yourself, and how you evolved into the area of film and television?
I am from Niger. I am thirty-five years old. I initially worked in print journalism, but I began working in television immediately after completing my studies when I heard about an opening at the national television. My goal had always been to work in television and radio. Of course, when I heard about the opening, I quickly presented my application and was immediately accepted. I began working as television announcer, a position I held for the next three years.
I later realized that, though being an announcer was a good thing, I still needed to advance my career. So I completed an examination and was accepted at the Institut de formation au technique de l'information et de la communication (IFTIC). After completing a three-year program, I returned to the television station as a director.
Since 1982, I have directed programs relating to women's issues. The programs are aired weekly on Nigerien television. I have also focused on health issues relating to women and children. I make documentaries, and though I do not always have the means to make fiction films, I have made some as well. In fact, I have a variety of tasks at the National Television of Niger. Presently, I am production manager.
In another conversation, you stated that you work in 3/4 format. Do you have the opportunity to work in film as well?
For the most part, we work in 3/4 format at the National Television of Niger. Although recently, thanks to the support of certain Western countries, we were able to acquire Betacam equipment, and we have now begun to film on Betacam. However, we still use the 3/4 format for short programs that are geared towards sensitizing people on certain issues as well as for animation shows, or vignettes. We reserve Betacam for larger, more competitive productions.
Is there a school or location in Niger where people can study 16mm and 35mm filmmaking?
We have filmmakers in Niger who work in 16mm, but because of our present economic situation, they do not always have the means to work in film. Not only is film stock expensive, but developing the film is also. Unfortunately, even our internationally known filmmakers such as Moustapha Diop and Djingareye Maiga can no longer make the number of films today that they did in the beginning. It is a pity, we regret this, but that is the situation now.
Could you talk about women in the area of television and cinema?
The National Television of Niger was established in 1978, as an educational television. At the time, only experimental programs were shown. I was the first woman to work as television announcer. I had many problems at the beginning, because a woman presented on television speaking to the public was not highly regarded. Initially, the public was critical of my public image on television. However, this did not discourage me, because I had the encouragement of my parents and friends to persevere. Gradually, people realized that women could work in the television industry just as well as men. They realized that there is no difference.
Because of this gradual change in attitude, as the years passed, more women became interested in television. More schools are directing their students, both women and men, to the Institut de formation au technique de l'information et la communication, the professional school here in Niger. Today there are women directors and journalists—not one, not two, nor three, but we are, in fact, quite numerous. There are more than seven women directors and eight women journalists at the National Television of Niger. Moreover, I can tell you it will not stop there. The school continues to exist and each time women complete their studies we encourage them to work in these areas.
Could you talk about the programs that you have produced and the films that you have made? What themes do you focus on?
In fact, I address diverse themes. I deal with ethnographic themes with a cultural context, such as the film Gossi that was screened here in Montreal. I also address social themes such as pre- and post-natal health issues regarding women and children. Women in the process of national development is a general theme on which there is a great deal of focus. This includes women from both rural and urban sectors. I also touch on issues concerning children, because it is necessary to focus on children. An example would be the education of the young girl, which is a prevailing theme today.
I directed three programs, one in French, one in the national language Zarma, and the third in Hausa. The public appreciates these programs a great deal. Because I have the advantage of speaking the three most widely spoken languages in Niger—French, Zarma, and Hausa—the programs that I produce are always presented in two or three versions. Of course, I think that the language question is very important.
You also produce programs that focus on life in the village, such as your film Gossi. Could you describe your experiences during these film productions?
We do have the means to go to the villages to film. In order to do a program we must first do a location survey of the village. To develop the script, sometimes we spend three to four days in the villages in order to live the reality of the people and the environment. We return to the studio, write the script, and then choose the necessary equipment. We are then ready to go back to the location to film.
Sometimes we run into problems because many of the people are very careful about what they say. When they see a woman come in with a camera, or even a man for that matter, it is not easy for them to convey to us certain issues that we are trying to explore.
When shooting the film, Gossi I had to spend two months in the small village with only water from the pond to drink, often eating non-hygienic food. Of course, we wanted to live among the people in order to integrate into the village to be able to obtain certain secrets, certain practices of the village. When we broadcast the program afterwards it was viewed by the people in the village and they appreciated it very much. We solicited their comments and learned that they were very happy with the results.
What were some of the specific responses that they made regarding the film?
They were delighted to see their village on film. They were pleased to see one of their own representing their population. For example, a brother or a father spoke in front of the camera, and talked about their needs—revealing, perhaps, that the village does not have a school. This was possibly a call to the government to take action, to build a school in their village. They also spoke about their need for a community clinic and the importance of the government's intervention to do something for the people and the children of the village. There was, in fact, a variety of responses to these needs from different people. Some actually took the steps to find ways to meet the various needs that the people expressed. In the end, these are the kinds of programs that gradually bring results into the villages. The people are pleased with the programs that we do because the outcome is generally satisfactory.
Do you choose the subject matter of your programs?
We generally have the freedom to choose our themes and ideas. However, it must reflect a certain reality of the region. If not, these programs will never see the light of day. We do have this freedom and are, therefore, able to do many productions. We have the freedom to choose and deal with the subject that is in the interest of the population. On the other hand, when the government recognizes certain trouble spots, we are called to focus on these issues. Of course, the goal is to get the attention of those who can make decisions vis-à-vis the various areas of concern. I think it is very important that we have this freedom.
Have you ever been commissioned to do or have an interest in doing films for international agencies?
The National Television of Niger works in collaboration with certain institutions such as UNICEF, UNDP, and UNFPA, with whom we work on a regular basis. Presently, we have signed agreements with UNICEF and are in the planning stages. UNICEF also assists us financially. We do not always have the financial means to produce our programs entirely, and therefore, we must seek funding from outside institutions in order to work more effectively. UNICEF and UNFPA often give us videocassettes or various equipment and materials that we may not have.
Have these programs only been aired on television or is there the possibility to screen them elsewhere? Have they reached the diverse sectors throughout Niger?
The national television is a public television as well as a state television. The programs are broadcast in cities and rural areas. Even in the smallest villages in Niger, there are television sets. In the village, people gather around the television set to watch the programs aired by the national television. The programs that I produce are broadcast in almost all the households in Niger. Since we produce programs for the national television, we cannot show these documentaries and fiction films in the cinema houses.
While the audiences for these films are generally Nigeriens, do these films also have an international audience?
For the time being, we only have FESPACO, which is an African film festival where we bring our films to show. More recently, we have developed a relationship with Vues d'Afrique. The festival has been a great medium for Africans to show their work. When we show our work it is not only the director’s work that is being seen, the country is also being represented. I think this is very important. FESPACO and Vues d’Afrique are the two institutions to which we send our films for competition. Unfortunately, there is a certain reservation on our part to get more information. Perhaps we are not always open to learning more about the institutions or outlets where we may present our work, and this is our problem.
You have stated that you focus mainly on ethnographic and consciousness-raising films; are these films also fictionalized or are they mainly informational and educational in content, or a combination of both?
The great majority are documentary films, but we do fiction films as well. However, making a fiction film requires a great deal of money. The actors must be paid. There must be retakes, as well as shots from different angles; thus, if there is not a certain amount of financial support, it cannot be done. Nonetheless, with the little that we have, we have tried to do fiction. For example, before the devaluation of the CFA, I was able to do a program in fiction form. It required only a small budget and it was well received. We do fiction films, but we must have certain institutions that can co-produce with us or assist us in co-production arrangements.
What role you want to play as a woman in the media?
I am a woman, I am a mother, I am a wife, and I work in the media. So one of the roles that I have to take on is to transmit my knowledge to my sisters who perhaps have not had the chance to go to school. The fact that I work in television is in no way an impediment, in terms of the role that I have to play in my household.
I have my work to do on the public level and I have a role to fulfill regarding my husband and my children. I am able to combine them without a problem. I am most happy to say that I have children who are very understanding, and I also have a husband who encourages me. If I am here today in Montreal, it is because of my husband. He encouraged me to come; he insisted that I must come.
Many of your films have focused on women in various situations and in diverse sectors of Niger. Would you say that, as a woman, you bring something particular to your work in film and television?
Yes, absolutely. I think women are in a better position than men to speak about the problems of women. Women are in a better position than men to speak about how to care for a sick child. As mother and communicator, I think that I have the better advantage to go in the direction of my sisters, without any difficulty. Reciprocally, my sisters also encourage me. They encourage us during the production of each program, often by letter, often by telephone calls, and just as often at work or at home. They come to tell me that the treatment of a certain subject was well presented. They encourage us to continue the good work.
I think that women are the only ones who can truly touch their sisters; because there are certain things that a woman cannot talk about to a man, such as the problems around polygamy. A man may perceive it in a certain way, while a woman, as woman, perceives it in her way. We as women can present themes without the problem of vexing either men or women.
Could you also talk about the position of women in other sectors of Nigerien society? Are women also visible?
My country is a democratic country. In terms of raising the consciousness of women and sensitizing the population about the conditions of women, we have institutions that have done their best to change old attitudes regarding women. We have women's organizations, we have legal organizations whose goal is to sensitize women about the role that they must play. On the administrative level, we have many women who occupy positions of high-level responsibility.
On the governmental level, we have women officials, though they are not very numerous. Women constitute fifty-two percent of the population; however, we have a disproportional small number of women in the government. We have three or four women officials; but, in relationship to their actual number in the population, we think that the government can do more. In the parliament, we have women, women who are fighters. I would say that gradually the attitudes are beginning to evolve. People now have a much better understanding of the role of women. They realize that there can be no development without the participation of women. Nigeriens have understood this and I think things are advancing. Any project without the participation of women is doomed to fail.
