Media City Film Festival 2010 award winner Mati Diop (Senegal/France) is working on a new feature film The Fire Next Time (not based on the James Baldwin book). From Cineuropa: “The story is set in a working-class suburb of Dakar that stretches along the Atlantic coast, dominated by a futuristic-looking tower that is about to be officially opened. The construction workers have not been paid for months, so they leave the country via the ocean in search of a brighter future…”

Read more about The Fire Next Time on Shadow and Act: https://shadowandact.com/mati-diop-the-niece-of-djibril-diop-mambety-to-make-feature-debut-with-fire-next-time

Mati’s film Atlantiques premiered at Media City’s 18th edition and won Second Prize. The film recounts the odyssey of Senegalese friends who attempt a life-threatening boat crossing. Melancholic and mysterious, Atlantiques urgently and elegantly addresses the perils of illegal migration.

Diop’s 2013 long-form film Milles Soleils is a moving homage to her uncle Djibril Diop Mambéty. A short clip can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcC5BAupQeQ 

Watch Mati’s lovely support message for Media City’s Kickstarter campaign in 2015 here: https://vimeo.com/122141197