I’m not responsible for that. She is the niece of the great Senegalese film director Djibril Diop Mambéty, and made Mille soleils (2013) as a homage to his Touki bouki. But for Diop, her unique position in Cannes is a perplexing distinction. “I hadn’t realized myself.

Mati Diop is the first woman of African descent to feature in the competition segment of the festival, the Palme d’Or. Mati Diop trained at Le Fresnoy National Studio of Contemporary Art in France, as well as at The Palais de Tokyo in their experimental artist studio space Le Pavillon. [1][2] At Cannes, Atlantics won the Grand Prix.[3]. Diop links her reconnection with Senegal to her birth as a filmmaker.

Her short film Atlantiques (2009) won the Rotterdam International Film Festival's Tiger Award for Short Film, and a Top Prize at Media City Film Festival during her first North American appearance in 2009. On Friday, she told reporters that maybe she is a little proud, and noted that Jordan Peele’s films (“Us,” ″Get Out”) have been enthralling for her. I thought, ‘Oh, is it?’ So there’s still a long way to go before it becomes something completely natural and normal and something that’s not noticeable, the fact that I’m a black woman.”. “I must acknowledge that myself, when I was growing up, I didn’t have a black or mixed race filmmaker who would have been inspirational to me,” said Diop. She is an actress and director, known for Atlantics (2019), Mille soleils (2013) and Big in Vietnam (2012). I didn’t know,” the 36-year-old French-Senegalese filmmaker said in an interview. The film focused on actor Magaye Niang, who was the star of Diop's uncle's seminal feature Touki Bouki (1973) and explained how he had come to live as a farmer in the intervening years. “I’m not embarrassed.

Mati Diop's work has also been featured at the Venice Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival in 2012, and the Valdivia International Film Festival,[4] as well as the Museum of the Moving Image in 2013.

[6] The film played at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and was later also programmed at the Museum of Modern Art in 2014.

“It’s important to have these kinds of figures. [7], Diop made her acting debut in Claire Denis' film 35 Shots of Rum (2008), playing the lead role of a young woman in a close-knit relationship with her father, whom she has trouble leaving as she gets ready for marriage. [4], Diop studied at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study from 2014 to 2015. She is an actress and director, known for Atlantics (2019), A Thousand Suns (2013) and Big in Vietnam (2012). Mati Diop at IFFR Mati DIOP (1982, France) lives and works in Paris and is both filmmaker and actor. [7], In 2019, she became the first black female director to have her film premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival when her feature debut Atlantics (Atlantique) was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. Trivia (2) Daughter of Wasis Diop and niece of Djibril Diop Mambéty. [1] The film was a fictional adaptation of her documentary short Atlantiques made in 2009 that followed two friends from Senegal as they made a life-threatening boat crossing to Europe. Mati Diop made her Directorial debut in 2004. I don’t think it’s our business as filmmakers to draw these limits between documentaries and fiction. I needed to tell this story. Her documentary short A Thousand Suns was released in 2013. CANNES, France (AP) — Mati Diop was initially disappointed when she, by reading a news article, discovered that she was the first black female filmmaker in the Cannes Film Festival’s prestigious competition in its 72-year history.

Atlantics is the story about a young woman (Mame Sane) in Senegal whose lover disappears by boat in search of greater opportunities in Europe. She received a nomination for the Lumières Award for most promising actress for her role in the film. She directed her first four short films while attending Le Fresnoy and Le Pavillon (Palais de Tokyo). I just take it as a pure fact.”. Mati Diop was born on June 22, 1982 in Paris, France. She is the daughter of Senegalese jazz musician Wasis Diop and niece of the pioneering Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambéty (“Touki Bouki”). I didn’t know,” the 36-year-old French-Senegalese filmmaker said in an interview. |  “My first reaction is that I found it quite sad. “What I found interesting is that although these women are waiting for these men to come, their life is transformed by the experience of this loss. I had already dealt with it in my short but I felt I wasn’t done with it.”. Mati Diop (born 22 June 1982) is a French actress and film director who starred in the 2008 film 35 Shots of Rum. CANNES, France (AP) — Mati Diop was initially disappointed when she, by reading a news article, discovered that she was the first black female filmmaker in the Cannes Film Festival’s prestigious competition in its 72-year history.