The Cemetery of Cinema

An unconventional and playful documentary about the hunt for the first film ever made in Guinea, MOURAMANI (1953). Director Diallo’s curiosity develops into a methodical and insightful take on the country’s history of cinema and politics.

A beautiful reflection on the dangers of undervaluing film archiving, The Cemetery of Cinema takes us on a poignant exploration through Guinean film history amplifying the voices of its few but impassioned custodians. Guinean director Thierno Souleymane Diallo uses a playful and maverick filmmaking style to document his journey to find the first film made in Guinea, Mouramani (1953) by Mamadou Touré. This myth-like first film raises many questions, has anyone even seen it? It seems that a lot of people know of it, but where is it and why is it lost?

Diallo's curiosity develops into a methodical and insightful history of cinema, film and politics in a country that was originally a pioneer of the artform. The tragedy of the loss of films are felt viscerally by Guinean archivists and cinema owners featured in the film, and it leaves us audience members with a sadness and frustration that not enough resource and value is given to the required efforts to maintain Guineas film heritage. Diallo uses his own minimal but effective resources, including his one camera, bare feet and relentless ambition to share this heartbreak. But his use of artistic licence to creatively reenact and reinterpret this lost first film, brings our understanding of archive and history into the present and redefines his own film as a contribution to Guineas lost past.

Mosa Mpetha

Director

Thierno Souleymane Diallo er født i Guinea. Han har studert ved ISAG i Dubréka, og flyttet i 2012 til Niger for å ta en mastergrad i Creative Documentary. Siden har han også utdannet seg innen dokumentarfilm i Senegal. I 2015 lagde han sin første TV-dokumentar, Un homme pour ma famille. Hans nyeste film, The Cemetary of Cinema, hadde premiere på filmfestivalen i Berlin.

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