Regards comparés: Au fil du Niger, portraits of a river

The festival international Jean Rouch, initiated in 1982 by the eponymous filmmaker and ethnologist, is one of Europe's leading events for documentary cinema linked to anthropology and the human sciences. Last September, it was awarded a CNRS Medal for Scientific Mediation. The 40th edition will take place from November 18 to December 3, 2021.

From November 22 to 25, Inalco hosts the Regards comparés screening-debates with a selection of documentary and fiction films shot in the northern part of the great African river in Mali and Niger. The twenty-seven films in the program will be screened in the auditorium of the Pôle des langues et civilisations, providing an opportunity to compare the different cinematographic points of view held by ethnologists, filmmakers, geographers, travelers and journalists on the River Niger.

Entrance upon registration and presentation of health pass.
Inalco, 65 rue des grands moulins 75013 Paris
Auditorium du Pôle des langues et civilisations
Métro 14 et RER C Bibliothèque François Mitterrand

Au fil du Niger, portraits d'un fleuve

See the trailer for Au fil du Niger portraits d'un fleuve

Rising in the mountains of Guinea, crossing Mali, Niger and Nigeria before emptying into the Gulf of Benin, the Djoliba, or Niger, is the third longest river on the African continent. Its northern loop, along which the mythical Malian towns of Mopti, Djenné, Timbuktu and Gao are scattered, is the focus of this ninth edition of the Jean Rouch International Festival's Regards comparés.

A crossroads of peoples, languages and ecosystems, imbued with incomparable historical and cultural richness, the Niger loop has attracted foreign cinematic gazes since the early years of cinema in the 1920s; for those of Africans, it would be necessary to wait until Independence before peoples won the right to film themselves.
From colonial propaganda films, to ethnographic films, to the most contemporary documentaries, these Regards Comparés will offer a four-day journey along the Niger and throughout history. Combining endo- and exogenous viewpoints, these films reveal the ecological, social and political issues at stake, as well as the environment in which the men and women who live and work around this river that has fascinated us for so long. The program also explores the central role of cinema in shaping the Western view of this mythical region of Africa, and the myth of the colonial "civilizing mission", forging a collective European unconscious that will leave its mark on people's minds, and still raises the question of representation, who films whom and how.
From living together to the political conflicts that have shaken northern Mali since 2012, from ecological issues to the safeguarding of cultural heritage and in particular the famous Timbuktu manuscripts, from lifestyles to trades and the teeming musical culture deeply rooted in the region's socio-political realities, the festival team invites you, in the company of directors and speakers, to discover through these screenings-debates the portrait of a river and the lives linked to it.

Nathalie Carré, senior lecturer in Swahili language and literature, director of the Africa and Indian Ocean department at Inalco
Melissa Thackway, lecturer and researcher in African cinema at Inalco and Sciences-Po Paris

Monday, November 22

Introduction
1:30pm-1:45pm

First images of the Djoliba or River Niger
1:45pm - 3:15pm

• La Remontée du Niger à travers le Soudan Collection Gaumont Actualité, early 1900 (13,40min)
• En Chaland sur le moyen Niger by Paul Castelnau, 1923 (11min)
• French West Africa: French Sudan: Le Niger - La zone sahélienne et le lac Débo Collection Pathé, 1920 (7,30min)
• Niger by André Gillet and Roger Verdier, 1949 (21min)

In the presence of Melissa Thackway, teacher-researcher in African cinema at Inalco and Sciences-Po Paris, Béatrice de Pastre, deputy director of the CNC's heritage department and director of the CNC's collections, and Laurent Pellé, general delegate of the Jean Rouch festival.

Regards coloniaux sur les villes du fleuve
15h30 - 16h45

• Geography. Africa. Upper Senegal and Niger Gaumont Collection, 1920 (2,30min)
• French West Africa. Djenné, Sudanian zone Collection Pathé, 1920 (4,10min)
• Africa. Sudan, Timbuktu. Laveuses Noires... Collection Gaumont Actualité, 1900 (11min)
• French West Africa. Tombouctou, zone saharienne Collection Pathé, 1920-1929 (5,40min)
• Sahara malien : Tombouctou 1959-1960 by René Caron, 1961 (17min)

In the presence of Melissa Thackway, teacher-researcher in African cinemas at Inalco and Sciences-Po Paris, Olivier Racine, ECPAD and specialist in private funds, and Laurent Pellé, general delegate of the Jean Rouch festival.

Ethnographic cinema before African independence
17:15 - 18h45

• Bataille sur le grand fleuve by Jean Rouch, 1952 (35min)
• Un bateau laboratoire : Le Mannogo by Jean-Dominique Lajoux, 1986 (15min)

In the presence of Eric Jolly, CNRS research fellow and anthropologist, and Laurent Pellé, general delegate of the Jean Rouch festival.

Première fiction
19h15-21h30

• L'Homme du Niger by Jacques de Baroncelli, 1939 (102min)

In the presence of Melissa Thackway, teacher-researcher in African cinema at Inalco and Sciences-Po Paris, Béatrice de Pastre, deputy director of the CNC's heritage department and director of the CNC's collections, Antoine de Baecque, professor at the École normale supérieure, film historian and critic, Béatrice de Pastre, chief curator of the Archives française du film and Laurent Pellé, general delegate of the Jean Rouch festival.

Tuesday, November 23

Portraits from Niger
1:30pm - 4pm

• Empreinte du fleuve Niger by Claude-Pierre Chavanon, 1993 (52min)
• Un fleuve nommé Niger by Bernard Surugue, 2015 (52min)

In the presence of Bernard Surugue, honorary director of research at IRD, ethnologist and filmmaker, and Laurent Pellé, general delegate of the Jean Rouch Festival.

Portraits of river towns
16:15 - 18:30

• Saho by Louis Decque, 1996 (52min)
• L'Esprit de Mopti by Moussa Ouane, 1999 (54min)

In the presence of Daniela Merolla, professor of Berber literature and art at Inalco, Jean-Paul Colleyn, director of studies, IMAf (EHESS, IRD, CNRS, Université Paris 1, EPHE, AMU), anthropologist and filmmaker, and Laurent Pellé, general delegate of the Jean Rouch festival.

Les Fils de l'eau
19h - 21h30

• Intérieur du Delta by Sylvain de L'Espérance, 2008 (76min)
• River Nomads / Les Nomades du fleuve by Eric Komlavi Hahonou and Lotte Pelckmans, 2016 (42min)

In the presence of Jean-Charles Hilaire, lecturer in Hausa language and linguistics, deputy director of the Africa and Indian Ocean department at Inalco, Jean-Paul Colleyn, director of studies, IMAf (EHESS, IRD, CNRS, Université Paris 1, EPHE, AMU), anthropologist and filmmaker, and Laurent Pellé, general delegate of the Jean Rouch festival.

Wednesday, November 24

Tour of the BULAC manuscript collection by Zouhour Chaabane
9:30am - 11am

Seating is limited and entry is by registration with nathalie.carre@inalco.fr
Meet in the lobby of the Pôle des langues et civilisations

Tour of the BULAC manuscript collection by Zouhour Chaabane
11am - 12:30 pm

Number of places limited and entry by registration with nathalie.carre@inalco.fr
Meet in the hall of the Pôle des langues et civilisations

Patrimoine en péril
1:30 pm - 3 pm

• Sur la piste des manuscrits de Tombouctou by Jean Crépu, 2014 (52min)

In the presence of Nathalie Carré, lecturer in Swahili language and literature, director of the Africa and Indian Ocean department at Inalco, Muriel Roiland, engineer in analysis of ancient sources at the IRHT and Georges Bohas, professor emeritus at the Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon, honorary member of the Institut universitaire de France, specialist in the translation of Arabic texts and author of Le roman d'Alexandre à Timbuktu. Histoire du Biscornu (Paris: Actes Sud / Lyon: éditions de l'ENS / Timbuktu: Bibliothèque Mamma-Haïdara)

Conflict in the northern loop of the river - Part 1
15h15 - 18h15

• Teshumara, the guitars of rebellion by Jérémie Reichenbach, 2005 (56min)
• 365 Jours au Mali by Ladj Ly, Saïd Belkitibie and Benkoro Sangaré, 2014 (49min)

In the presence of Jean-Charles Hilaire, lecturer in Hausa language and linguistics at Inalco, Melissa Thackway, teacher-researcher in African cinemas at Inalco and Sciences-Po Paris, Nadia Belalimat, anthropologist, CNRS- INSHS (Institute of Human and Social Sciences), European Center for Sociology and Political Science (CESSP) and Sékou Coulibaly, teacher of Bambara at Inalco.

Conflict in the northern loop of the river - Part 2
18h45 - 21h

• Gao, la résistance d'un peuple by Kassim Sanogo, 2018 (55min)
• Dawa, l'appel à Dieu by Malick Konaté, 2018 (71min)

Thursday, November 25

Climate Spaces - Part 1
13:30 - 15h45

• Un fleuve humain by Sylvain de L'Espérance, 2006 (92min)

In the presence of Mélanie Bourlet, lecturer in Peul language and literature at Inalco, Marie Lorin, LLACAN postdoc for the ANR EcoSen project, and Laurent Pellé, general delegate of the Jean Rouch festival.

Climate Threats - Part 2
4pm - 6pm

• Le Fleuve Niger se meurt by Adam Aborak Kandine, 2006 (7min)
• Hamou Beya - Pêcheurs de sable by Andrey Samoute Diarra, 2012 (72min)

In the wake of river music

• 18:30 - 19:30 Concert by Naïny Diabaté and Baba Sacko

19:40 - 21:30 Le Miel n'est jamais bon dans une seule bouche by Marc Huraux, 2000 (94min)

In the presence of Nathalie Carré, lecturer in Swahili language and literature, director of the Africa and Indian Ocean department at Inalco, Marc Huraux, director, and Laurent Pellé, general delegate of the Jean Rouch festival.