Bawa Kadadé

Recipient of the 1st and 2nd edition of the Young Francophone Creation Fund of the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animé, can you tell us how this influenced your projects?

"Thanks to the Young Francophone Creation Fund, I was able to finalize my first feature-length documentary film Etincelles under optimal conditions.  This film deals with the issues of living together and inter-religious dialogue.

Here is a summary: Mailo is my native village. I am Christian, my father is Muslim. Today, I no longer recognize my village, which is devided because of religious tensions with tar as the dividing line: Muslims on one side, Christians on the other. Yet we are one family. Everybody knows the problem but nobody talks about it. So to loosen up the language and provoke discussion about living together, I return to the village with a project: to build my house on the Muslim side."

For this second edition, you have been awarded a residency at the Cité internationale des arts for the preparation of your documentary A Changing City. What changes has this residency brought you for the development of this feature film? 

"Having a project is a good thing, but having a suitable framework to develop it is a real opportunity. The Young Francophone Creation Fund offered me that framework through the Cité internationale des arts residence, where the working conditions and exchanges with film professionals from various backgrounds have enabled me to make great strides forward. Today, my writing is more accomplished and I know that I can go into production with complete peace of mind."

"A few years ago, the CNC, the Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles (Belgium), the Film Fund Luxembourg, the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC - Québec), Telefilm Canada and the Office Fédéral de la Culture (Switzerland) created a think tank and exchange group in favour of supporting the French language as a tool for creating and promoting cultural diversity.  Accompanying an artist such as Bawa Kadadé during his residency is part of this ambition to encourage creation in the French language, cultural diversity, freedom of expression and is in line with the shared desire to lead a common francophone policy.

Since 2017, this policy has taken concrete form with the establishment of a fund to support creation in French-speaking Africa and Haiti, the "Young Francophone Creation Fund". This mechanism is funded by financial or in-kind contributions from the French-speaking countries of the North. It is partly managed in Ouagadougou, within the Generation Films collective, which is in permanent contact with filmmakers and supports projects. Its purpose is to support young filmmakers, authors and producers from sub-Saharan French-speaking Africa and Haiti in the implementation of their audiovisual projects, by linking them up at an early stage with broadcasters, partners of the fund, TV5MONDE, Orange and France Télévisions, to guarantee their future visibility. Support at the various stages (writing, development, production, post-production) and training actions are set up according to the needs of the projects supported by the commission set up for this purpose, in order to contribute in a pragmatic way to encourage the structuring of a local audiovisual ecosystem.

There is a significant need for support for authors in sub-Saharan French-speaking Africa. Within the Young Francophone Creation Fund, we have thus created partnerships with several authors' residencies, most of them established in France but not only (Tunisia, Quebec). Inviting an author to reside at the Cité internationale des arts is a way of allowing him or her to progress serenely with his or her project, to confront him or her with artists from other disciplines and from many countries who will take a fresh look at his or her work. This opening to other worlds seems to us important and enriching for all artists. Being located in the heart of Paris, meetings with other professionals and artists are also encouraged. This allows authors to be accompanied by consultants in a rhythm that they can easily define together. It is the whole environment set up, the space, the projections, the meetings with artists, professionals and the public, which allows to animate and inspire the work of each project and the experience of each artist author, and the continuation of their journey in their country".