A Letter from Yene (2022) by Manthia Diawara

A Letter from Yene emerges from conversations with the community in the seaside town of Yene, Senegal and unfolds as if it were a letter written to the viewer. In A Letter from Yene, the filmmaker is not only the storyteller, but also the owner of one of the houses along the beach. Following encounters between fishermen, pebble collectors and himself, Diawara explores how their intersecting lives collectively and unknowingly contribute to the undermining of their shared environment. Manthia Diawara says: “Édouard Glissant was fond of saying: “Rien n’est vrai, tout est vivant.” The sacredness of life is not just among humans, but everywhere, in the air, in land and rivers. We have to protect it for our survival.”

Manthia Diawara’s A Letter from Yene is a film commissioned by Polygreen Culture & Art Initiative (PCAI), Serpentine in London and MUBI created in the context of Serpentine’s Back to Earth programme.

More about Manthia Diawara

Manthia Diawara (b.1953) is a writer, filmmaker, cultural theorist, scholar and art historian. Diawara holds the title of University Professor at New York University, where he is Director of the Institute of African American Affairs. Much of his research has been in the field of black cultural studies, though his work has differed from the traditional approach to such study formulated in Britain in the early 1980s. Along with other notable recent scholars, Diawara has sought to incorporate consideration of the material conditions of African Americans to provide a broader context for the study of African diasporic culture.

Friday, April 28 | 19.00
Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation Amphitheatre
13 Eratosthenous, Athens

Tickets: 8.00€
Tickets for B&E Members: 6.40€

Buy your tickets at:

VIVA.GR

A Letter from Yene (2022)

DIRECTOR: Manthia Diawara
WRITER: Manthia Diawara
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jürgen Bock
DURATION: 50'