“I Am Not Interested in Denouncing Polygamy: My Film Goes beyond That”: Interview with Angèle Diabang about So Long a Letter

Senegalese director Angèle Diabang was selected to participate in La Fabrique des cinémas du monde during the 2014 Cannes Film Festival professional program that contributes to the emergence of young artists of the South on the international market. Designed by the French Institute, the annual program invites, with their producers, ten directors to Cannes who are developing their first or second feature film. Angèle Diabang’s project in development is the adaptation of the celebrated novel by Mariama Bâ, So Long a Letter.

Olivier Barlet:

Adapt a celebrated book; this is an impressive and risky project! Why this choice?

Angèle Diabang:

I made the choice to adapt it into a film because I think the debate on polygamy but also on the situation of women vis-à-vis society, family, and love is as important today as ever. At the present we are in an era where the image has a great impact, many young people no longer read. We look at more and more images, films, either on the Internet or television, even if there are no more cinema houses in Dakar. I thought it would be great to take an emblematic work of African literature, and adapt it for the screen.

OB:

Is polygamy still practiced in urban areas?

AD:

I think so, even in the urban environment and though our country has evolved and modernized, polygamy is still there.

OB:

It is true that the topic is dealt with in recent films, such as 5×5 [2005] by Moussa Touré.

AD:

Exactly, the debate is ongoing.

OB:

You come from the documentary genre; you have directed and produced many. Why this passage to fiction? What desire is manifested in this?

AD:

It is true that so far I have produced and directed documentaries, and also a short fiction, but I have never made strict boundaries between fiction and documentary. I always knew that one day I would also do fiction because there are stories I want to tell that are impossible to do with a documentary: it would be too sensitive and not sufficiently subtle. I prefer to relate it through fiction. In the case of the Mariama Bâ, it is an adaptation and so I can only do it in fiction. But I would never set limits with respect to these two genres. Rather, the documentary is a learning experience for me, allowing me to grow and develop into fiction.

OB:

While it is a work of fiction, it is still quite documentarized, since it is her own story . . .

AD:

Exactly. This novel is, so to speak, semi-autobiographical and I’m sure there will be a documentary aspect in my film.

OB:

The literary adaptation is relatively rare in Black African cinemas. It is an approach that has not shown real results. I remember the workshop “Etonnants scenarios” that I introduced a while ago in Bamako, whose objective was to bring together writers and filmmakers. However, no concrete projects emerged from it. How did you go about your process?

AD:

It came about when producer Eric Neve from La Chauve-Souris and I agreed to work together on the novel. It took us several months to find out who had the rights and how to obtain them to make the film. When we got the rights, I knew that since I am not a screenwriter and having made documentaries, I did not want to write the film adaptation, but rather have someone else do so. Because Eric Neve believes strongly in me, and my talents, he pushed me to do it. He told me: “Begin, and when you know where you want to go, you take on an author,” and now, I’ll begin the third version of the script by myself! So far it’s going well, people who read it are quite surprised and happy with the results. After this writing phase, I think there will be a screenwriter or a second writer.

OB:

Were the rights difficult to...