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.
You acted in the award-winning film, Au nom du Christ, which won the Etalon de Yennenga in 1993, as well as many other films. So, you are quite visible on the screen. Could you talk a bit about yourself, where you are from, your background and career in acting?
I am an actress and I am Ivoirian. I am here at FESPACO because FESPACO is a bit like Hollywood for us Africans. Therefore, it is very important for an African actor to attend and participate in the festival.
In Ecrans d'Afrique No. 7 [first quarter 1994], there is a photo of you on the cover page. In the revue, Alessandra Speciale focuses on African actresses in an article entitled "A Threefold Trial: African, Female and Actress." She profiles your experiences as an actress, and those of Felicité Wouassi. Could you give your reflections on some of the issues that were discussed in the article?
It is true that in Africa it is very difficult for a woman to assert herself. Furthermore, if she chooses to be an artist or actor it becomes even more complicated. For me, it is three times more problematic because I come from a family that is very religious. I am the granddaughter of an imam, which does not simplify matters. For instance, where I am from, at fifteen years old an adolescent girl should already be married. Here I come along and try to jostle things, to do what I want to do. It has not been easy.
You have acted in both the theater and the cinema. What have been some of the roles that you have played, and your experiences in both of these media?
Yes, I come from the theater, I have already played in at least fifteen plays. These have included some of the great French plays by writers such as Moliére, Racine—I acted in his play Britannicus, Jean Genet, Bertolt Brecht, and I recently played the role Antigone in the play by Jean Anouilh.
I also acted in some great African plays by playwrights such as Birago Diop. I have already played the role of Nefertiti in Ramses II in the theater. To summarize, I had many wonderful roles in the theater. In the cinema I played in Le guerriseur by Sidiki Bakaba, in Le bal poussière by Henri Duparc, Le sixiéme doigt also by Henri Duparc, Afrique mon Afrique by Idrissa Ouedraogo, and Au nom du christ by Roger Gnoan Mbala. I have acted in films made for television in my own country, the Ivory Coast.
Though actors are not given the recognition that you think they should have, people do know you and come out to see you on the screens and tune in to watch you on television. What message do you want to send your audience? As an actor, do you feel that you are contributing to African cinema?
Certainly! I learned very young that as an African woman I had to defend myself, no one would fight for me. We had to fight, each of us in her own way. At an early age, I handled things on my own. I decided to fight in the best way I could so that the African woman may have the place that she deserves.
I feel that the African woman plays a pivotal role in society. She works a great deal and manages the family. Because there are men who do not have work, the women go to the fields to work, or if they are not cultivating the fields, they are at the marketplace the whole day selling in order to bring money home. The woman cannot be overlooked. She makes a tremendous contribution to the development of her country.
In another context, you have stated that African audiences often do not distinguish between reality and fiction and that may cause problems when you act in roles that may be in conflict with images of women in African societies. Though you have experienced some problems as an actor, in this respect you appear to be a committed artist. At the moment, there is a great deal of discussion about the image of African women. Perhaps as an African actor you in many ways, are that image, or become that image. Do you think in general that the role of the African woman and the images of African women in African cinema are positive? What are your thoughts about the visual representation of the African woman in the media in general?
Now the African woman is beginning to have a positive role in the cinema. It has started to happen. Because in the past she was always seen as a secondary character, the great roles were played by men. We have learned that we must work hard and work a great deal. We are chosen because we have talent. We have also learned that we must push harder to have roles created for us, scripts that are written with women in mind. We must even go as far as to suggest roles for ourselves. At the present we do not hesitate to tell a director to create a certain role or that we want to be a certain kind of character. At least I do not hesitate to do so.
The last film in which I acted La jumelle [The Twin] was by the young director Diabi Lanciné, who really values the African woman and supports the struggles of African women, such as the fight against forced marriage and excision, and the fight for the African woman to have the right to choose her own future. All these issues were touched upon in his film.
Believe me it was a great pleasure for me to play such a role because there are certain things that we cannot say in Africa. For instance, the fight against excision, we cannot talk about it, we must each fight in our own way, and as best we can. For many years, I have been fighting against this practice for my daughter, because she risks being excised. We submitted to it, we did not know. We did not know where to go. Moreover, I think there is one obligation that I have which is to protect my child and prevent her from being subjected to the practice of excision.
The cinema has the possibility of conveying messages, especially in the context of images and storytelling. What role as an actress can you play to struggle against excision?
I am already in the struggle against it. The fact is that I fight each year for my daughter because it is a continuous battle. You are vulnerable to this practice right up until marriage. However, most people are not ready to listen to this opposition, it is still part of our tradition. I think the best solution is that each woman in her own work, in her own society, fight to protect her daughter.
