UNE SI LONGUE LETTRE

Film screening & discussion
Angèle Diabang
Senegal | 2024 | Original version with English subtitles | 105 min
German Premiere
Moderation: Arlette-Louise Ndakoze
In cooperation with the Institut Français Deutschland

SUN 16 NOV
17:30 CITY KINO WEDDING

With UNE SI LONGUE LETTRE, AFRIKAMERA presents the film adaptation of the bestselling novel by Senegalese author Mariama Bâ (1979) for the first time in Germany.

Ramatoulaye, a 50-year-old teacher, has been married to lawyer Modou Fall for 25 years. The couple shares a deep bond and is happy with their four children. When her husband unexpectedly marries a second wife—the best friend of their daughter—Ramatoulaye experiences intense anger, frustration, and disappointment. In a series of letters to her friend Aïssatou, she reflects on her life with a polygamous husband, solidarity among women, female emancipation, and the conflict between tradition and modernity.

Mariama Bâ was one of the first novelists to depict the situation of women and their challenges in Senegalese and West African society with both sharpness and empathy.

The film adaptation of UNE SI LONGUE LETTRE was a sensational success at West African box offices this summer, surpassing Hollywood films in popularity, and was released without European distribution partners.

ANGÈLE DIABANG (*1979, Dakar) studied at the Dakar Media Centre, La Fémis in Paris, and the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. She began her career as a cinematographer and editor before moving into directing. Her first short documentary, MY BEAUTIFUL SMILE (2005), was screened at over 50 festivals. YANDÉ CODOU, LA GRIOTTE DE SENGHOR (2008) and CONGO, UN MÉDECIN POUR SAUVER LES FEMMES (2014) were presented as part of AFRIKAMERA.