Originally published in Sisters of the Screen: Women of Africa on Film Video and Television. Africa World Press, Trenton, NJ, 2000.
Interview held at FESPACO 1997, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, February 1997. Translated from French.
The place African actors hold in African cinema is increasingly visible in the context of film criticism and African film history. There is a genuine interest to know their feelings about the characters they interpret, and their impressions of cinema in general. What do you feel is your role as an African actor in African cinema?
In African cinema, I would say the role of all actors is to be a vehicle in which to convey a message on the screen to our society. It is in this context that I, as an African woman actor, contribute in bringing a message to our people. I want to make my contribution to the development of African cinema.
What has been your general impression of the image of African women in African cinema or in visual representation in general?
It has been very positive. Of course, it was very difficult at the beginning because at that time our societies did not understand. However, at the present there is beginning to be an acceptance. In the past, to see a woman in the cinema was a problem in Africa. Now it is changing, people have understood that it is art and they accept us.
In Med Hondo's film, Sarraounia, you played the role of the great queen Sarraounia. The film was awarded the grand prize, the Etalon de Yennenga at FESPACO in 1987. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Princess Yennenga, after whom the prize is named, was also a formidable woman. One may compare Sarraounia to the strength and courage of Yennenga. Could you talk about your experience as Sarraounia, and how you felt in this character?
You know, the history of this woman fascinated me. I don't know if you have heard about the Central African Mission led by the Colonne Voulet-Chanoine. These men did a lot of damage to Africans. Sarraounia, voluntarily celibate, decidedly celibate, had as her sole ambition to fight and liberate her people. She refused to bow to the Colonne Voulet-Chanoine when they arrived in Niger. She was a very brave woman. I admired the history of Sarraounia and I also loved playing the role in the film. I felt that I actually lived her character.
At the beginning, Med Hondo had chosen me for a minor part, the character of Amina in the film. However, after the selection at the first casting, I was his choice for the role of Sarraounia. I think this was because Med saw me in my family setting where he witnessed a brawl. I was fighting with a young man. I think this scene stayed with him. When he returned later, in the context of his film, he asked my nephew Djim Mamadou Kola, who is a Burkinabé filmmaker, "By the way, your aunt, the tall, dark-skinned one, I saw her fighting here one day, what has become of her?" "Ah" he stated, "she is around, she is married now." Med Hondo declared "Anyway, I want her to play in my film." My nephew replied "Well, okay, let's go see her husband." They went to see my husband and he had no objections. And that is how I passed the test. Although he had chosen me for the minor role, after having done a preliminary filming, he stated "No, she is the one to play Sarraounia." And I think that I was able to capture the personage that he had intended.
What could possibly follow this role as Sarraounia? What films have you acted in since?
I must say this character made me very popular in Burkina Faso, in Africa, as well as internationally. I must first take the opportunity to graciously thank Med Hondo, I owe him that. Because every time that he speaks publicly about the film, he speaks about me, his actor. The film has had an especially tremendous success because it was the greatest of African films in 1987. It was awarded the Etalon de Yennenga, the prize of Air Afrique, and the prize of OAU. It was awarded a total of five prizes. The film was a great success and my popularity came from this.
After Sarraounia, I played in Mamy Wata by Mustapha Diop. Though I don't speak in the film, I act with my eyes. I played the role of a woman in love. In Africa, you know, we have a certain pride that we hide behind our love. I was in love with a rebel, but I refused to declare my love to him. I followed him everywhere with the hope that he would declare his love to me, which continues right until the end of the film, when he still says nothing, and I leave disappointed.
After that, I played in the film Les étrangers by Djim Mamadou Kola. He was a prizewinner at FESPACO 1991, where he was awarded the prize of CDAO, the prize of OAU, and the special prize of the jury.
I also played in the film Haramuya by Drissa Touré [Burkina Faso 1995], which was also well received. I played in the film Message pour Beijing, a documentary for television by Martine Ilboudo Condé. Another film in which I played a role, was SIDA dans la cité II by A. Cissé of the Ivory Coast; it was also a film for television, which is being broadcast in Burkina Faso at the present time. Like the others, it was also well received. My role in these films also contributed to my popularity.
Perhaps you actually seek out certain films. For instance, Sarraounia and Mamy Wata are legendary personages in African history, and you acted in both of these films. Do you see yourself as a certain kind of character in the roles you play, such as a very strong woman, or a woman with a great deal of confidence, strength and power? Are there certain roles that you feel more within your character as a woman?
I would say yes. Let's take the film, Sarraounia, where I played the role of a woman who had a strong character, who was afraid of nothing. She tormented her neighbors and everybody around her. I was very satisfied in this role. I felt the presence of this force. On the other hand, in the film Les étrangers, I played the role of a submissive African woman.
It's true that the real talent of an actor is to be able to act in any role as if it were her true character....
Yes, the actor has to be able to do all. That is what I was saying at the beginning. We are attempting to convey a message. Thus, the actor must be versatile. When you are asked to play the role of a madwoman, you put yourself in the personage of a madwoman, you play that role. To play the role of a prostitute, you place yourself in the character of a prostitute. To play the role of a "grande dame," or a businesswoman in a company, you put yourself in the body of a businesswoman. That is an actor, in fact.
You were not an actor before playing in the film Sarraounia? It was this film that got you started in the cinema. What did you do before acting in films?
Yes, Sarraounia was my first film: I had never acted before, neither in the cinema nor in the theater. My profession outside of the cinema is secretary at the Centre Hospitalier National Yalgado Ouedraogo in Burkina Faso. I was trained as a secretary.
How do you manage the role as secretary and actor at the same time?
I would say it takes a certain talent. You know, our country, Burkina Faso, assists African filmmakers considerably. When we have a film production, I am given authorization or I arrange for vacation time during the shooting of the film.
Does an actor keep a bit of her role with her after the end of the film in her everyday life? Somewhere within you, was there, or is there still a part of Sarraounia or the other characters that you have played in other films?
No, I am simply Aï Keita-Yara. But, of course, in the streets when someone sees me and says, "Hey Sarraounia," sure, I say hello. I know they are my fans so I go to them to greet them.
