It wasn't your university,
we met at my university,
at my law school.
You were at Le Mirail University.
I was at Le Mirail.
I asked you something
and suddenly everything started.
Then I said let's go to my place
and you actually saw
where I was staying.
Then we didn't see each other
for two, or three, even four years.
Four years without seeing each other
and you recognized me
even though I had changed.
I thought this guy
is not someone who looks...
His eyes are real cameras.
They don't forget.
He's a filmmaker,
he has no eyes,
he only has cameras.
Even in his life,
anything he sees is a scene.
He doesn't need cinema
to understand what is a scene.
Because everyday is a scene.
Walking is a scene,
speaking is a scene,
talking with someone is a scene.
Only mountains don't meet.
Shining Nights
11.53pm, the headlines today...
No massive regularisation
of illegal immigrants,
says the Minister for Immigration Brice Hortefeux.
… Dr Nudenman's clinic
in Ekaterinburg in the Ural area.
Every year thousands of patients
come Russia, Europe and beyond,
at prices leaving the Western clinics behind.
The clinic offers
all types of plastic surgery
by the best specialists
in the best possible conditions.
Facial surgery,
laser treatment of the skin,
liposuction,
breast shaping
hair transplant,
corrective surgery.
All that
at the Cosmetology and Plastic Surgery Centre
of Ekaterinburg.
In Ural's capital city, 3rd in Russia,
the rise of the middle class
can also be seen
under the scalpels
and the lasers of the surgeons.
The clinic is hosted
in an entirely rebuild palace,
all marble, granite,
warm smiles and hi-tech.
This area of Russia...
My wife is normal, she's a…
I prefer a white, blonde woman...
something like that,
to calm down my anger
towards everybody else.
It'd be nice to be
with a white girl.
But you're not angry !
Yes I am, you dumb !
You're not.
If you think so
you don't know me.
Ok, I know you are.
A little bit.
But you know
I'm not angry with people.
But what are you angry with ?
I'm angry
because I'm not known
for my true worth.
I don't like this.
I know your true worth.
And so do many others !
But why don't they tell me ?
Because they don't want to...
I don't know ?
Because you sit on this bench
and for them it's a contradiction.
It's not a contradiction
to sit on a bench.
It is, because you have a PhD.
Well I don't see the PhD...
All I see...
Ok, they respect me.
Everybody respects me.
Yes, they do.
Even Cascas or Maghid,
these guys... they know.
The Arabs or anybody else,
they respect me.
My wife must be a free woman,
a blonde.
A black woman like this
I don't think so.
Look.
Come on.
She wears fake hair.
Anyway black women
won't like me
because I'm not rich.
Nor would a white woman then.
She would.
No.
Who told you that ?
Because I know them too.
Because they know
who you are.
But as they know me
they don't need
my material wealth.
Because they know
I'm like them
I'm white too
I'm white,
I'm not black.
I'm not black,
not really black.
I'm black
but normal black.
Do you see the moon ?
Yeah.
I think I live on the moon.
I live on Earth
but in reality.
I live on the moon.
I don't know why.
I'm a man from the moon
English people...
speaking like that.
They're not French,
they're not intelligent.
If you're not French
you're not intelligent.
French people are intelligent,
that's why I live in France.
Fuck the radio.
Where I live I'm fine,
no one disturbs me.
I always sleep there.
Where you saw me sleeping,
that's where I sleep.
That's very good.
You passed your agrégation.
You know where I sleep.
As long as you know
where I sleep, it's ok.
We'll turn right
and that's it.
I'm going for a piss,
don't film when I take a piss.
I take a piss
because my wife isn't here yet.
The King of the Arabs,
a black man who became
the King of the Arabs.
It's strange isn't it ?
I'm the only one
who can defend them.
The only one.
They don't know who I am.
They don't even know
I'm the King of the Arabs.
They don't even know
what's an Arab.
What's in there ?
Bananas...?
In the bin ?
Fuck
Potatoes,
fuck, my kitchen is broken,
I can't cook potatoes.
The King of the Arabs.
I wasn't expecting that.
I thought I was
the King of the Blacks.
But i'm
the King of the Arabs.
That's strange.
Why am I the King of the Arabs ?
I don't know why.
That's it.
At the end I know why
I'm the King of the Arabs.
The Times of Power
She said the times of power.
with Samna MARFA and the inhabitants of TIBIRI
Doutchi, adminstrative center
of the subprefecture
December 15th
That's not my home,
Doutchi is different.
It's a subprefecture
so it's a colonial place.
So in fact they got everything.
Because we were independent
from Doutchi.
But because of colonialism,
because of the State power.
We were administratively
attached to Doutchi.
But not anymore,
today my home is like Doutchi.
Now my home
is an administrative centre.
Ok
These are the other kings of the area.
Maybe he's the prefect,
I don't know who was prefect at the time.
You see those in plain clothes.
A prefect is present.
My father is there,
that's him.
He's here, that's him.
He likes glasses.
You wore glasses for a while.
I saw you once with glasses.
The winner is given a horse.
A horse.
He's my father.
All right
My father.
Here.
It means :
Holy, holy, holy, Lord,
God of power and might.
Heaven and earth are filled
with Your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna to God in the highest.
Humbly we pray that,
partaking of the Body
and Blood of christ,
we may be gathered
into one by the holy spirit.
Remember Lord,
your church,
spread throughout the world.
Bring her to
the fullness of charity
together with our Pope and our Bishop.
You're filming him everyday ?
No, not everydays !
Hello, how are you ?
You are together.
You are together both of you ?
Aaaa Amen...
And in him O God,
almighty Father,
in the unity of the holy spirit.
Aaaa Amen
I'm going to bed.
I'm tired.
But you know what.
You know what my friend.
Five days ago.
I woke up with a woman.
Small breasts,
small arse,
in bed.
I thought,
fuck Cass.
You're back.
I'm back to nothing.
She talked about witchcraft.
Oh shit
I swear she talked
about witchcraft.
I said I believe
in witchcraft.
I don't because
I believe in God.
If you believe in God
you believe in the Devil.
No I don't.
Yes you do.
You want and you don't want.
If you believe in good,
you believe in evil.
That's logical.
For me good is everywhere.
No.
I have a different
conception of things.
I keep it.
I keep it apart.
It's the first time
I hear this.
Laugh.
I'm not laughing,
I'm crying.
Do you remember yesterday
when you told me
« I cry for you »
I told you don't.
Even I find it hard
to cry for me.
I cry my faith,
I cry my heart
and my body.
I see what you do,
all you do.
I cry for these people,
I respect them,
I like them, yes.
So.
That means I'm a rotten man ?
No you're not.
I tell you,
I'm not bullshitting.
I tell you you're not rotten !
You have to keep that in mind,
it's a secret.
Hello
Hi ruya, how are you ?
General, hi.
How are you ruya,
how are you Fauzi, Hasni ?
Captain.
Nothing.
Hey...you catch ?
You catch ?
How are you doing ?
I saw Florian yesterday.
I don't want to hear
about this guy.
Alright.
As usual.
He'll find another punchbag
somewhere else.
He'll find another punchbag
somewhere else.
He's going to live
at the other one's flat.
And then he'll strangle
another one too.
I don't want
to hear about this guy.
This retarded.
I went to look for him.
When we meet
he gets mad at me.
It's life as a couple.
He's not in a couple,
he uses me.
That's not the same.
You have to be patient.
You need patience.
He's been using me for five years.
Five years is something.
Five years is a lot of time.
I'll find another one, don't worry.
I don't need someone destructive
in my life.
It's going to be alright.
He is an idiot, a dumb guy
that a dumb girl
is supposed to understand.
That's him.
Samna, tell me about your life
before you reached the Chefferie ?
Ok,
I don't know
if you are aware that.
I was in the French army.
For fifteen years.
While I was in the army
I was deployed
two times in Indochina
during the war.
Were you horseriding as well ?
All those soldiers you see here.
They have supernatural powers.
For example
you can't hit them with iron.
They use a magic spell
so the knife won't pierce them.
They have a secret,
they gave me a lot of things.
They gave me
the power against iron.
The knife can't hurt me.
What were the conclusions
of your PhD in Political Science ?
Obviously,
the thesis was about
the foundation of
the post-colonial state
in the Sub-Saharan area in Africa.
I tried, no.
I demonstrated how colonisation
was introduced in Africa.
To get a better foothold
colonisers started coaxing local kings
like my father for example.
By becoming their friends.
That's what colonisers did.
They became friends with the kings
and the different peoples.
This is why
there wasn't any real colonial war
in Black Africa.
No real colonial war.
Because colonisers followed tradition.
Some settlers even became
just like black people.
Like Jean Rouch for instance.
They learnt to live like African people.
So Jean Rouch « The Mad Masters »
is on the same topic as your thesis ?
It shows something.
What does it show ?
It shows a cultural trauma.
A cultural trauma meaning
they were so traumatized,
weren't they,
by this colonial penetration.
That they had to claim it as spirits.
For them,
all of this is like spirits.
Like spirits.
That's the way they express themselves.
This is what the Haukas are about.
Yeah, he talks about the Haukas.
These is what the Haukas are about.
It was a way to fight
against colonial power.
It got into their minds.
It got into their flesh.
It got into their culture.
A woman fell on the ground.
Magazia,
a queen of Accra's prostitutes.
Possessed by a woman genie
« Madame Salma »
The wife of one of the first French officers
to arrive in Niger
in late 19th century.
« Madame Salma » received
the colonial dress and helmet.
She's going to inspect
the new governor statut.
Then the lieutenant breaks an egg
on the head of the governor.
Why an egg ?
In order to imitate
the plume on British governor's helmets.
For this is the real governor.
At the Trooping the Color
parade for the opening
of Parliament in Accra.
And in this crowd
Haukas came
in search of their models.
And if order
is different
here and there.
The protocol is still the same one.
You refused to tell the truth.
I was assigned with
showing it to you.
So that you could inherit.
White people found me
on my land.
The filming crew will repeat that.
Let them put it all on picture
and send it to the president.
Where are the white people ?
They're here !
I don't talk about these ones !
They're not in charge of anything !
Talk about those with power.
Those who remained on our land.
Those who dare say.
That princes,
commoners
and slaves
are equals !
You see, this is my father.
There !
Fuck, I'm lucky.
My father.
That's the Mercedes.
I recognize it.
He used to own that Mercedes.
This is my father,
you see !
This is my father,
you see !
I don't know if he looks like me,
but he does.
I think so.
A little.
He's here but
he doesn't care about Islam.
He doesn't care about prayer.
He's here.
He knows I'm not like this.
I'm a Catholic.
Yeah I know.
I'm a Catholic.
I'm not a Muslim.
It's a shame
that there are some Muslims
back home.
Your town was
colonised
by Muslim people ?
It actually wasn't colonised by Muslims.
They fought them.
I don't know how Islam came
in a strange way.
Do you get it ?
Some of it but not all !
My father who's here,
he never was a Muslim,
nor will he ever be.
When we watched the film
on the Haukas.
It's very important
we started to watch Jean Rouch
with the Haukas
Because the Hauka
are religious.
I like the way Jean Rouch
describes them as a sect.
Because they are extremists.
You see the commander is mean,
even the doctor's wife is mean.
You can see the aggressiveness
they suffered
that became a strength in them
and then a spirituality.
But how come what hurt us
eventually become our food ?
That's what we are.
We feed on that.
That's it.
But to truly come back
on the totality of things.
Jean Rouch was indeed a pioneer.
Not an African cinema pioneer.
African cinema doesn't exist.
Maybe it does today.
But before it wasn't cinema.
It was.
Before there were missionaries,
explorers.
He was talking about Salomon.
Salomon founded the capital city of Niger.
He chose this town to be the capital city.
He was called Governor Salomon.
This is why
there is Salomon's wife and all that.
These colonial representations
reflect the reality
of the destabilisation
of a population
that was in its own cultural,
economical and social reality.
Which was also
the true beginning of a meeting.
Hi, how are you ?
It was the beginning
of a situational meeting.
Situational meeting.
We see people called Docotoros.
Mrs Docotoro means Doctor.
Not the charlatan or the healer
but the medical doctor.
Doctor in the Western meaning.
Which simply means that.
Colonisation
wasn't
bad for Africa.
Anyhow people have to.
Only mountains don't meet.
This colonisation had to happen
to maybe,
understand each other,
to move forward.
Because there's no denying reality.
Western people were advanced
at every level.
This is the truth.
Nobody can deny that.
Today and tomorrow
and the day after tomorrow.
Western people are advanced.
At every level.
We got a lot out of that.
Only with the Doctoro.
The doctor comes,
there is cholera or another disease.
The doctor gives you a vaccine
and it's over.
So what's the problem ?
This is also colonisation ?
No, it isn't.
Actually colonisation was always described
as a civilising mission.
Ok, civilising
is not the correct term.
Maybe it was at the time.
It's true there is more
than meets the eye.
That is to say.
The fundamental
and yet hidden reasons
for which Western people came.
They didn't come to give us sugar.
They wanted something.
But colonisers forgot that
we took as much from them
as they wanted to take from us !
After all they didn't take anything.
What they gave is stronger
than what they took.
They didn't take anything.
It's not about cocoa or gold.
They didn't take anything.
What they gave is stronger
than what they took.
This is very important.
I talk to you as someone
who never was colonised.
I was never colonised.
Everything I do
is an expression of
my free freedom.
My free freedom.
I don't choose, I am.
I don't choose to be
or not to be, I am.
I am what I am.
African people are what they are.
They may be in an Arabic country,
in a White country,
or in a Chinese country
what is true in them
can never be torn apart.
This is the truth.
It can't be. Because.
Unfortunately and contrary
to what people think.
We are prouder than
any other race.
Prouder.
Can you call me « my brother » ?
My brother.
I call you what I call you.
You said you weren't my brother.
Well it doesn't matter, this is life.
I was only wondering.
How will you make the distinction
between your intimate life
and your academic life ?
How do you separate them ?
The problem honestly.
That's it.
You are my friend,
you too should remain discreet !
You think a friend
should remain discreet ?
I'd say the contrary.
Maybe.
You are my friend.
I tell you honestly.
Because you never hurt me.
If you hurt me once.
Then it's over.
Everything else.
Is over.
I don't accept this.
You hurt me once.
The bad remains
and for me there is no problem.
It stays forever in my memory.
The harm you did to me
remains forever in my mind.
Because you hurt me
where it mattered !
They're no trivial actions.
You did this to me.
So.
I say your god is dead.
I fucked your god.
But I don't have any !
Fucked your god,
he'll never get me
and he can never get me.
I'm not a slave.
I'd tell you more.
I'm not a master's slave.
And above all don't forget.
I'm waiting for you.
I'll get them.
What ?
I say I'll get them !
Is it the first printed version
of your work ?
Yeah
How does it feel ?
Well it's impressive
because on the USB drive
you can't see anything.
Like this you can see the result.
You mean on the computer
you can't fully realize ?
You can't.
Here you're facing reality.
How many years of work ?
Three years.
Three years,
like the thesis.
The difference with Arnaud Bernard
is here there's nobody,
you're alone here ?
Nobody.
Is it a voluntary choice
to come to a spot
where there's nobody ?
It's not because there's nobody.
Even there I was alone at the beginning.
The other people came afterwards.
Yes but it was a public square.
Yes it was.
Here it's more
a non-place.
You come here every night ?
Every night.
And you stay until ?
Well until I finish my bottle.
It's a bit like your clock.
Yes.
Then I go back to town,
I go begging to get food.
To buy rice
at the African restaurant.
After that I walk,
I keep moving.
I look for a quiet spot
where I can rest
until the next day.
So you stay up late !
That's why
i virtually don't sleep.
You sleep in the morning ?
I virtually don't sleep.
Because what's the problem ?
For example, a door is not closed,
you get in...immediately.
It's better on the weekend,
because people don't get out early.
But on a working day,
7.00 am,
you have to go.
So what can you do ?
You look for another spot.
Or you go to the park,
a bench on your own.
On the garden,
on the bench.
And you stay.
For a while.
Then you go to the library
and you work.
It's been like this.
It's been like this for a while !
Yes
If you had made films,
what kind of film
would you have liked to make ?
Obviously
I'd like to make a western movie,
of course !
A western movie.
About western movies.
Why western movies ?
They're like documentary films.
Why documentary films ?
Because they try to recount,
to experience again
in all possible ways
the time of birth
of the American people.
It was a very violent,
uncompromising time.
They made sure
everybody knew that.
What disturbs you ?
What ?
I said I have the feeling
there's something wrong with you.
No.
Something wrong with you,
just a comment.
I assume you have other worries
in your mind.
No, I was just thinking
that you never asked me questions.
I asked you a lot of questions
all the time.
You never did.
So when you ask me questions
and I give you an answer.
I send you back to your question.
Yeah, you send it back to me.
And like this,
instantly
you think.