With the exception of those operated by the Instituts français, movie theaters had all but disappeared in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa by the early 2000s. In 2011, with the opening o Le Normandie in N'Djamena, the first cinema in sub-Saharan Africa to be equipped with a digital projector, the trend was set in motion, and the number of new movie theaters has risen steadily over the past 10 years, to reach more than 58 screens in sub-Saharan Africa today, and 193 if we include the Maghreb, i.e. the whole of French-speaking Africa.
From the opening of the Majestic Ivoire in 2015 to that of the Pathé Dakar in 2022, Unifrance has supported this movement in line with the recommendations of the report drawn up in 2014
This report focused on exporting French films to this new market, but also, in the words of Éric Névé, founder of Unifrance's French-speaking group, exporting a virtuous ecosystem and convincing film authorities to create support funds for their film industry. In this way, we organized a number of Francophone cinema meetings in Ivory Coast in 2015, then in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 in Senegal with the creation of the Dakar Court festival (below: Aïssa Maïga at Dakar Court 2021), and Madagascar in 2022.
At the same time, Unifrance has supported distributors – first Les Films 26, then Pathé Touch Afrique (ex-Pathé BC Afrique) and Sudu Connexion – in organizing premieres. After a first attempt in 2016 in Ivory Coast, the Rendez-vous du Cinéma Francophone evolved into a series of events according to the calendar set by distributors..
It is within this context that Unifrance, Pathé Dakar, and the Ambassade de France in Senegal and Gambia supported screenings of Dahomey with its director Mati Diop on May 16 and 17, Black Tea with its director Abderrahmane Sissako on October 5 (photo), and No Chains No Masters with its director Simon Moutaïrou on November 2.
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