Tuesday, April 29, at the French Institute of Saint-Louis, the curtain risen on the 16th edition of the Stlouis’Docs festival by an evening of projection charged with emotion and history. In front of an attentive audience, the short film “Africa sur Seine” by Paulin Soumanou Vieyra opened the session at 8 pm, followed by the documentary “Afrikki” by Gaël Le Roy. A trip to the roots of African cinema and today’s struggles. The event is held from May 29 to 3, 2025.
Saint-Louis- It was at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29, that the curtain risen on the 16th edition of Stlouis’Docs, the Saint-Louis International Documentary Film Festival. At the French Institute, the moviegoers were invited to a poignant immersion in two universes of Africa and memory: “Afrikki”, a committed documentary signed Gaël Le Roy and “Africa sur Seine”, a film tribute to Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, pioneer of the 7th African art. Two works, two visions, the same desire to make the image speak to say the real. Born in the streets of New York at the end of the 1970s, hip-hop has always been a cry of the heart, a response to injustices experienced by marginalized young people. This cultural movement, first musical and quickly become a global phenomenon, has known, over the decades, to transcend its origins to establish itself as a form of social and political challenge. Its essence is based on the idea that music, graffiti, dance and words can be used to break the silence, to denounce inequalities and to make the voices of oppressed heard. From this raw energy born in ghettos, rap, popular and powerful art, knew how to conquer the world. It is in this context of struggle for freedom of expression and social justice that “Afrikki”, a feature film in competition, plunges, following the movement “Y’enie en Mête” in Senegal which has inspired many African countries. This collective of artists, journalists and militants uses rap not only as a means of artistic expression, but also as a tool for revolt against a political system deemed corrupt and disconnected from social realities.
The voice of a youth in struggle
As a extension of this global phenomenon, “Y’is fed up” is a modern incarnation of the power of hip-hop culture to arouse change and face the challenges of an Africa in full change. Since 2011, “there is a fedest” has become an engine of resistance, using rap as a weapon to challenge a political system perceived as corrupt and disconnected from social realities. It is no coincidence that most of the collective members come from the hip-hop scene: they understand that, as rap has done elsewhere, music can be a catalyst for change. In a country where official political speech is often reserved for elites, rap and street art become privileged instruments for those who do not have access to traditional power levers.
“Afrikki” captures this effervescence and this collective energy, but also the human behind the revolt. More than a simple chronicle of a musical movement, the film explores the way in which hip-hop becomes a powerful language of resistance. Through without eyeshadows and living performances, the members of “Y’A fed” have used rap to denounce the corruption, injustice and ineffectiveness of Senegalese institutions. And just like their counterparts in New York ghettos, these artists manage to give music a political dimension, making the spearhead of a peaceful, but relentless revolt.
First short film in the history of African cinema
Made in 1955, “Africa sur Seine” is much more than a film: it is a founding stone. “This is the first short film in the history of African cinema. It was carried out in a context where this first generation of filmmakers who studied in France had the opportunity to film in Africa, because it was prohibited, “said Mamadou Sellou Diallo, director and producer, also a master-cinema coordinator at Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis.
This short film immerses us in the daily life of young Africans exiled in Paris in the 1950s. Camera in the shoulder, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra caps the wanderings and hopes of this generation between the Butte Montmartre, the quays of Seine and the Latin district. Far from the colonial clichés, he gives the floor to those that we did not see, in a Paris without sun, but full of promises. “This 16th edition of the festival coincides with the author’s centenary. It is therefore a way to celebrate it, “said Diallo, rejoicing the projection. Born in Dahomey in 1925, Vieyra was the first African graduate of the Institute of Advanced Cinematographic Studies. Filmmaker, criticism, historian, he left a monumental work before going out in 1987. His cult film, between urban poetry and manifesto identity, inspired the giants of the continent like Ousmane Sembène or Djibril Diop Mambety.
Of our special envoy, Adama Ndiaye
