MM: Tell me about the otherworldly dream sequences that afflict Félicité throughout the film.
AG: At some points, even though she’s so strong and she’s struggling so hard, she cannot succeed in saving her son’s leg. This devastates her, and she’s falling apart, and she doesn’t want to continue anymore. She’s going more and more into dreams, and losing her will to live. It’s really about her and having this moment where she’s ready to lose everything: ”I don’t have any strength anymore. I’ve done my best. It’s done.” And that’s exactly where, in fact, she will find the beginning of her new life. That’s what happens at this moment. When she loses her strength, that’s where she finds her new life.
MM: How did you discover the performer that embodies your title character, Véro Tshanda? I understand she was previously a singer and this was her first major part in a film.
AG: She just came to the audition. A friend told her, “you should try,” and she came. I was immediately overwhelmed by her strength. She was so powerful from the beginning. I was like, “Whoa.” I had to accept her, because in fact I was imagining a little skinny woman, but instead I had this very strong and powerful woman. We met several actresses, and at the end it was clearly her. I followed her a lot, because she wasn’t the character I has written at the beginning, so she created a big part of the film.
MM: Is improvisation part of your process to bring to life the characters we see on screen?
AG: We knew the beginning and end of sequences and there were some rendezvous we had to have inside of those sequences, but those points were absolutely free and had a lot of improvisation. We knew melody and structure of the sequences, but in the spaces between the meeting points we were free.
Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu in Félicité
MM: Kinshasa appears to be a vibrant and chaotic city in constant motion. Did shooting there represent a logistical challenge?
AG: Because we had spent a lot of time there before, I started to work a year before shooting and the crew and the cast, everybody was from there, so at the end it was not that difficult. What was difficult was to fill the whole crew. It’s not like where you come with a crew from the outside. We did the film together. It’s all preparation that’s difficult and long, but when it was done, we were really ready to shoot, and everything wasn’t that difficult.
MM: The use of light and colors, as well as the lively camera movement are beautiful choices in terms of cinematography. Did this emanate from your discussions with the DP or from the locations themselves?
AG: Céline Bozon is a French DP, and it was our first time working together. She’s a kind of DP who is absolutely involved. She’s not afraid of anything. She is always in search of having more direct sensations when shooting. There was never a theoretical dialogue between us about the contrast or whatever. It was about trying to have the most direct filming way possible and about emotion. We wanted to be in the position where we could capture what was happening there at that moment. She was also sort of improvising. She had the headphones and I had the microphone, and we were able to have long takes and continue to adapt together our way of filming to what was happening in front of the camera. She was also there during the rehearsals, so there was a lot of work and preparation on her part. This allowed for her and the actors to have trust where you can feel everything. They learned together that you don’t have to show, you don’t need words, you just have to be and accept the camera so close to you and feel comfortable with that. You just have to experience the film, not trying to film the film. You are trying to live the film.
MM: How did the music help you shape the film? It’s one of the most notable aspects of the Félicite’s world.
AG: Having this music, and the voice of Félicité, really helped me to write this character. It was also about this music that is traditional and transcendental. It helped me in trying to structure the film, you have the first part, which is more classical in a dramatic way, and then in the second part, trying to find something about this music, it’s like a cycle. The movie is built like this. The music inspired the structure of the film. The first part follows a dramatic structure, and the second part is built like the music, like a cycle. You have Félicité’s house, you have the bar, and you have the forest, and it goes over and over and over, like this music is. So the music is really a big influence in the way this film is structured.
MM: How do you see the landscape of African cinema today? Are more films being made in Africa today? We see very few films coming out of Africa to international festivals and movie theaters in the United States.
AG: There are not enough films. It’s still difficult to produce films, and also there are very few cinemas. A lot of countries are without cinemas, so it’s very complicated to make films, because you have to find money, but then you won’t make any money back, and you have to sell the film outside. This is one of the problems, but at the same time, we have a lot of young filmmakers because we need cinema. We need to see ourselves. We need to have a dialogue with how we imagine ourselves. There is a new generation that is coming that is trying to find our own language of film. It’s very important not to copy American films or whatever, but to have our own language. This is very, very important, because if you have African cinema looking like American cinema, it’s going to be another kind of colonization. You have to find your way, you have to find your voice, and this is why cinema is so important, and why there are so many young filmmakers. If you’re trying to find money and trying to show your film, it’s very complicated, but I’m very confident that it will happen. We just have to find this confidence in ourselves. We just have to do the job. You will see more and more films, I think.
MM: Is this why you keep making films about Africa and telling those stories, instead of going elsewhere to make your films?
AG: Yes. Making films in Africa means something. There are a lot of places where making cinema doesn’t mean anything and it’s just about an industry. In Africa it’s more than an industry. It’s building a culture, a society, a kind of mirror to see ourselves, and trying to build something together. This is a very important moment. This is what cinema is for. It’s not a question of selling tickets. So yes, it means something to make films in Africa. It’s not about saying, “This film is better than the other one.” Every film is important, because it’s part of this dialogue. We agree and disagree, and those are the dynamics of creating a dialogue.
MM: How do you feel about Félicité being the first film to represent Senegal at the Oscars?
AG: It’s cool. I’m very humbled by that. I hope that some young filmmakers will say, “Ok, I want to be the next one.” It’s not for me and it’s not for Félicité. We are part of a movement. If in the next 20 years nobody comes up with another film then this is stupid, but if next year, or a few years after, you have another film in there submitted to the Oscars, then that would really mean something. MM
Félicité, Senegal’s Oscar Entry for Best Foreign Language Film, opened in Los Angeles on November 10, 2017, courtesy of Strand Releasing.
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