Pamplona (EFE). The memory of the victims of the conflict suffered in 1989 on both sides of the Senegal River and the overcoming of an abusive relationship have today put the finishing touches on the official section of the Point of View international documentary film festival with the screening of ‘Maayo Wonaa Keerol ‘, by Alassane Diago, and ‘Just’, co-directed by Paul Pirritano and Claire Teper.
At a press conference, Diago explained that with his documentary he seeks to give a voice to these “victim families silenced for more than 30 years” and “forgotten” by the governments of Senegal and Mauritania to “create memory” about a massacre that today Today “it has not healed” and the black population of this area continues to suffer.
In the film directed by Pirritano and Teper, ‘Chaylla’ herself, 23, is the protagonist of a homonymous documentary that accompanies her on her legal and personal journey to get out of an “abusive” relationship through a possible filming thanks to the strong bond of trust maintained with the victim but with the premise of “not taking sides” at any time, Pirritano pointed out.
wounds that are still open
The massacre experienced on the banks of the Senegal River, recalled Alassanne, is a conflict that he experienced very closely since his family took in one of the victim families when he was 3 years old, being able to observe as the “trauma” they carried grew. and that to this day continue to require recognition.
The wounds that are still open, he said, derive from the creation of borders that do not respect the limits proper to the society of this territory and from the repression of the black population by a white minority that remains at the top of the institutions.
For Diago, they are brands that do not heal due to the inaction of the governments of Senegal and Mauritania that “cooperate to build bridges and dams” and extract raw materials but do not attend to those who left nothing along the way.
In the case of ‘Chaylla’, Pirritano has commented, his objective at the beginning was to make a profile of the women who entered and left a center for the prevention of domestic violence in the north of France to “show their evolution”, but there they met Chaylla and saw that “something was not working” since she continued to maintain contact with her partner.
In this way, they decided to change the focus of their work to address control and how to get out of a relationship in which one of them maintains a “strong influence on the other”, a subject that, being so “complex”, they decided to focus on this woman. considering that “it would be superficial” if they tried to address it with several people.
Despite the difficulties, Pirritano has considered this documentary a success since they have managed not only to have it used by different associations and groups to show how to get out of this type of situation, but also that the protagonist attends the screenings to work for this cause.
