Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s ‘Banel & Adama’ is set in a remote village in northern Senegal and it features a non-professional cast.
A year after premiering in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Banel & Adama, the feature directorial debut by Ramata-Toulaye Sy, keeps finding newer audiences to enchant with its tragic, evocative love story.
The compelling nature of Banel & Adama lies in a specific coherence that translates into a universal relatability. Two lovestruck partners’ initially dreamy bond is tugged at by responsibility, superstition, societal constructs and heady defiance. Set in a remote village in Northern Senegal, Sy’s directorial touch values authenticity, from the non-professional cast to the poignance of her story’s romantic tragedy.
“I learned that a lot of people have different opinions about my character Banel,” Sy tells OkayAfrica, adding that reactions to her lead characters have varied across the several countries she’s taken the film to, from her French home base to 18 African countries.
“When I screened in France at Cannes, a lot of people were so bothered by my character and so scared about [her]. But when I screened, for example, in Africa, people really like Banel, really like her complexity, her deepness; she's selfish, she seeks her liberty. In France, a lot of men were really scared of Banel. And in Africa, a lot of men said, ‘Oh, I want to find a woman like Banel. I want to marry Banel.’”
Ramata-Toulaye Sy says the reception for ‘Banel & Adama’ varies from culture to culture.
Photo courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The French Senegalese director is especially proud of being able to center two characters who are uniquely striking. Banel is fiercely driven, Adama is gentle and sensitive, traits that aren’t always positively applied to women and men, respectively.
“In this movie I really didn't want to do the cliche character that we usually see,” Sy says, explaining that she didn’t want a female character that would be seen as a victim and a male character that easily fit the trope of being hypermasculine. The result is a bold story that underlays subtle commentary on climate change and communal expectations beneath a gripping love story.
Ramata-Toulaye Sy says while making ‘Banel & Adama,’ she made sure not to use cliche characters.
Photo courtesy of Kino Lorber.
Over the weekend, Banel & Adama opened in New York at Film Forum, and it’s set to open at Los Angeles’ Laemmle Royal this Friday. For Sy, she’s appreciative of being able to screen her distinctly “African love story” in dozens of countries and she’s “really glad to bring this movie to the U.S.”
Sy talks to OkayAfrica about the influence of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, working with non-professional actors for her debut feature, and more. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
OkayAfrica: When did this film come to you?
Ramata-Toulaye Sy: You know, I did La Fémis. It's this big school in France and I wrote this script in 2014 in my last year at La Fémis. I had to present a script for my diploma and I just wanted to write something in Africa. I was born and raised in France, but my parents are from the Fouta region that you can see in the movie, in the north of Senegal. And I just wanted to write the most beautiful and greatest love story — African love stor y— because I really love tragedy, I really love Romeo and Juliet, and I really wanted to write an African tragedy and African love story.
What did it take for the film to come together, logistically?
So, I have a French producer and a Senegalese producer, and we looked for funding in France and in Senegal. It wasn't difficult to find funding but it was that we had a small amount because it's an African movie in [the Pulaar language] with a non-professional cast. So a lot of people were happy to participate in this movie with the small amounts and after that, we easily had a French distributor. I think it was like a basic way to do a movie in France.
Ramata-Toulaye Sy shot ‘Banel & Adama’ in a village with a non professional cast.
Photo courtesy of Kino Lorber.
What was it like working with a non-professional cast?
For me, you can learn. When you cast someone, you don't know if it's going to be great or not. You know, it's like a feeling. It was really difficult to find the character of Banel, and I found her myself in the street as I was walking one night in this region. I saw Khady [Mane] and I asked her to come during the casting.
Working with this [type of] cast for my first movie wasn't easy, and in this part of Senegal, a lot of people can’t read. So we had to work with them differently. It's a lot of conversation, it's a lot of babysitting, you know. I had a coach with me because they had to learn their dialogue but not by reading the script. It was a little bit complicated but I'm really glad that I worked with non professional actors because it was really important for me to be real with the people of this region.
Earlier, you mentioned African men wanting to marry a Banel, which is interesting because we live in a largely conservative society.
You know, I mentioned Romeo and Juliet, and I really wanted to do a Juliet who became a Lady Macbeth. I didn't want to just write any Juliet, I wanted to write a Black female and African character, very complex and very deep and very different from what we see in African cinema. We’re used to seeing women who are fragile and victims, and I didn't want my character who would be a victim.
I grew up in a very traditional home. I grew up in France with my Senegalese parents. It wasn't difficult to write the character but I really wanted to do a really different character than we’re used to seeing.
Ramata-Toulaye Sy says it “was really important for [he] to use magical realism because [she] grew up with literature and loves those kinds of books.”
Photo courtesy of Kino Lorber.
Concerning Adama’s decision to not want to be the chief and what follows, how do you think superstition connects with scientific happenings like climate change?
It was really important for me to use magical realism because I grew up with literature and I love those kinds of books. As I said, I grew up in a very traditional home and mom always said to me that [mermaids exist], that the mystical has a very important place. It was very important to me to bring those mystical things in my movie and to link them with the drama. For example, climate change is in my movie as you said but I really don’t do commentary, so I linked climate change with the curse of the love story of Banel and Adama.
Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s ‘Banel & Adama’ underlays subtle commentary on climate change and communal expectations beneath a gripping love story.
Photo courtesy of Kino Lorber.
Have the people of the village involved in the film been able to see it?
Yeah. A lot of people there worked on the movie, you know, they were here helping and were very, very kind. We stayed for four months [and] it was their first time shooting. A lot of them have never been in a cinema so they didn't know what it meant. I went back to the village last October and we brought a really big screen and they were all [there] for the screening. It was really overwhelming and very moving for them. And they were really proud.
Coming off how this film has been embraced by those who’ve seen it, what is now most important to you as a storyteller?
The most important thing as a storyteller, I think, is to not be afraid and to be bold. I teach sometimes in Senegal and I always say, ‘Don't be afraid, be bold and be honest with yourself and be honest with the world.’ I think when you tell an honest story, the world can relate, you know. So, I think it's really important to be honest and create something that’s bold.