‘The future belongs to women’: Senegalese director Moussa Sène Absa at Luxor African Film Festival

Hala El-Mawi, Friday 17 Jan 2025

The 14th edition of the Luxor African Film Festival (9-14 January) honoured the Senegalese director Moussa Sène Absa, known as the father of suburban cinema. We talk to Sène Absa about his career and inspirations.

Moussa Sène Absa
Senegalese filmmaker Moussa Sène Absa at the Luxor African Film Festival's press conference, Luxor, Egypt, January 2025. (Photo: Luxor African Film Festival's Facebook page)

 

Born in 1958 in the working-class neighbourhood of Tableau Ferraille, near the Senegalese capital Dakar,  Moussa Sène Absa was introduced to Indian cinema by his friends at a very young age. 

He moved to France in the early 1980s, where he immersed himself in the artistic scene, exploring theatre, embarking on acting and taking screenplay writing courses at the University of Paris.

Sène Absa’s work delves into themes of angels, demons, and ancestral spirits that populate the world of Tableau Ferraille. In this neighbourhood, he made five feature films and a television series. Those works earned him the title of "the father of suburban cinema."

Sène Absa was honoured at the Fort-de-France Francophone Film Festival for his screenplay Les Enfants de Dieu (The Children of God), and his first film Le Prix du mensonge (The Price of Lies) earned him the Silver Tanit at the Carthage Cinematic Days in 1988.

Among his films that scored numerous international awards are Ça twiste à Popenguine (Twist à Popenguine or Rocking Popenguine, 1994) and Tableau Ferraille (1997), with the latter garnering the Best Cinematography at FESPACO. In 2002, he directed Madame Brouette, a film dedicated to women's empowerment.

Sène Absa also produced the daily humorous series Goorgoorlu for Senegalese Television, which became an unparalleled success with viewers.

Al-Ahram Hebdo (AH): Your career began as a stage actor. How did the shift to filmmaking happen?

Moussa Sène Absa (MSA): I often say that I did not choose cinema, but cinema chose me. Being an actor was my dream, and I played Oedipus in Ted Hughes's translation of Seneca's Oedipus.

When I arrived in France, I got roles as a waiter, bad boy, etc. I couldn’t identify with the roles my agent was offering, so I started writing roles for real "black characters" without stereotypes. This is one of the reasons why I wrote Le Prix du mensonge (The Price of Lies), which was funded by GREC in 1988. Then, everyone kept asking me: When is your next film? Since then, I’ve never stopped making films.

AH: You’ve been close to the significant figures of Senegalese cinema, like Djibril Mambéty (1945-1998). Tell us more about your relationship.

MSA: Djibril Mambéty was my mentor. I had the chance to be his assistant. He was a demiurge who combined cinema, poetry, and storytelling. He was a man full of humanism and truth. One day, he was an angel; the next, he was a demon. Djibril had his universe, the world of the little people, which he celebrated daily.

AH: Your large cinematic wealth always embraces women. How do you choose your subjects?

MSA: The theme of women imposed itself on me because women raised me. I do not choose my subjects; they impose themselves on me. It’s by listening and observing that things pile up somewhere inside me. I am very sensitive to their fate and like to say that the future belongs to women.

AH: The Price of Lies​ is a social critique that introduced you to the public. Xalé, your 2022 film (part of a trilogy focusing on women), is also a social critique on several levels. With time, how do you view these two films?

MSA: The way women view society reveals the state of the world. Every time the fate of women is in danger, the world tilts. That’s why we must listen to women. Motherhood is essential to our humanity. I always try to look at the world through the eyes of women. 

AH: Oral tradition and spirituality are omnipresent in your films without falling into traditionalism. How do you maintain this balance?

MSA: Man is multidimensional. His fundamentals connect him to his land, territory, and earth. He is the product of verticality, spirit, soul, and faith. Societies that have lost their spirituality are in danger. Our attachment to our culture elevates us to the rank of human beings.

AH: You often say that you were nurtured in Hindu cinema and that it influenced you. How?

MSA: As a child, I often went to the cinema. At that time, I was surrounded by two trends: Western cinema and Hindu cinema.

I chose Hindu cinema, which is full of romance, music, and songs. This cinema fits more with my environment of storytellers and my aunts, who sang at weddings and baptisms, and I often accompanied them. Music is usually part of my stories; it is a character on its own.

In other words, music is my prayer in cinema. It sets the rhythm and tone of my stories. It’s the music of my childhood and the songs of my aunts.

AH: African films win awards at major festivals but are not distributed in theatres, even in the countries of the continent. Why is that?

MSA: African cinema is a poor relative of global distribution. There were many cinemas in the 1970s. Until 1990, every neighbourhood had its own theatre. African production was rare, but it had its place on the continent's screens.

Then, the World Bank decided to close the theatres, which became temples and shopping centres. As a result, young people aged 25 admit to having never set foot in a movie theatre. It’s sad.

But there is a revival underway with the construction of new theatres. I am sure that in a few years, cinema will return strongly to the screens. 


 

Luxor African Film Festival
 

The Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF) was founded in 2012 by screenwriter Sayed Fouad (LAFF's president), filmmaker Azza El-Husseini (LAFF's managing director), and the Independent Young Artists Foundation.

The festival has become an important cultural bridge between artists and cinephiles of the black continent.

The 14th edition was named after the late Egyptian film star Nour El-Sherif (1946-2015), with a special dedication to the memory of renowned African artists: Moroccan actor and filmmaker Tayeb Saddiki (1939-2016), Egyptian writer Atef Beshai (1951-2024), Mauritanian filmmaker Med Hondo (1936-2019), and Senegalese filmmaker Safi Faye (1943-2023).

In addition to Moussa Sène Absa, the festival also honoured four other renowned names from African cinema: Egyptian actor Khaled El-Nabawy, Ghanaian actress and filmmaker Akosua Busia, Tunisian actor Ahmed Hafiane, and Egyptian filmmaker Magdy Ahmed Aly.

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This article was originally published in Al-Ahram Hebdo (French). Additional edit: Ahram Online. Translation: Ati Metwaly

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