Kickstarter

From January to April 2012, a professor of the University of Michigan and myself organized a symposium on African Women Filmmakers.  My first guest was the young African filmmaker Eleonore Yameogo from Burkina Faso.  She came to the University to present her documentary « Paris mon Paradis » that deals with the issue of immigration.  In her work, Eleonore wants to make Africans aware that the West is far from being a paradise for the majority of immigrants who has managed to cross the sea.

But Eleonore’s work does not end with Film Festivals where « Paris mon Paradis » was presented.  Unfortunately, due to the scarcity of movie theaters, most people in Africa cannot attend Film Festivals or watch movies and documentaries.  Having been an immigrant herself, Eleonore knows how difficult it can be to be transplanted to a place where everything was but expected.  To accomplish her mission, Eleonore has created a project called « The Mobil Cinema Project » through which « Paris mon Paradis » will be shown this coming June (2012), starting June 26, throughout different parts of Burkina Faso, including disadvantaged areas of the capital Ouagadougou.  There will be a debate following each projection in order for spectators to ask questions, share their impressions and concerns about the question of illegal immigration.

 

My project:

 

I plan to follow Eleonore’s Mobil Cinema Project tour in Burkina Faso as she and her team attempt to convince people that immigration might not be the answer to their worries and prayers for a better life.

You might think: another documentary about immigration? Not quite, and that is why my own documentary entitled The West as Heaven? An African Voice Deconstructing a Myth about Eleonore’s project becomes important.

 

Why am I making this film? 

The setting of Burkina Faso and the choice of the filmmaker was not a random choice.  Burkina Faso was the setting of a Revolution (the sankariste revolution) which took place between 1983 through 1987.  Thomas Sankara, the leader of this revolution was much concerned with the future of his people; he was also a strong proponent of women’s rights. To him, happiness was to be found in his own country not in the West.  For Sankara, the future of Africa was in the hands of African women and the courage and the resilience of its people.  To me, Eleonore through her work has become the perfect exemplification of Sankara’s hope; she is both, the hands and the voice who could make a difference.  Eleonore inspired me to make my own documentary because she embodies an African woman status that has been elevated by the sankariste Revolution.  She is also the living proof that African women, who have been mostly silenced by African men’s voices, can actively participate in social change.  Hopefully, her mission and my documentary will convince most people that living a better life does not mean fleeing ones country but finding solution at home.

 

Your help

My project is my first documentary and it is being funded out of my pocket. I have already enough to cover my travel expenses, but I would need some financial support for equipment. Your funding will also help pay the cameraman (a graduate student from the school of cinema of Ouagadougou) I will work with, and housing, meals and transportation in Burkina Faso.

Thank you for your support!