Just as Omar Blondin Diop’s brief life played out across several different levels, Vincent Meessen also layers the materials that make up Juste un mouvement. Shot/reverse shot stitches together past and present; Paris, Dakar and Peking provide the geographical framework; Godard’s signature colours of red and blue, the re-enactment of scenes from La chinoise and Chinese “soft-power” endeavours in contemporary Senegal are all smoothly folded into the mix. The uppermost level of the film, though, is dialectic of the most sinister sort: Léopold Sédar Senghor, of all people, poet and president of the independent Senegal, proponent of Négritude, persecutes his political enemies. In 1973, Diop dies at an outrageously young age, in the Gorée prison off the coast of Senegal.
This moving film understands the stagnation that results when the promise of freedom tips over into repression.
With
- Dialo Blondin Diop
- Ousman Blondin Diop
- Marie-Thérèse Diedhiou
- Alioune Paloma Sall
- Bouba Diallo
- Cheikh Hamalah Blondin Diop
- Felwine Sarr
- Malal Almamy Tall
- Fi Lu
- Doudou Fall
Crew
Written and Directed by | Vincent Meessen |
Cinematography | Vincent Pinckaers |
Editing | Simon Arazi |
Sound Design | Laszlo Umbreit |
Sound | Laszlo Umbreit |
Assistant Director | Mamadou Khouma Gueye |
Producers | Geneviève De Bauw, Vincent Meessen |
Co-Producers | Olivier Marboeuf, Javier Packer-Comyn, Samuel Feller |
Co-Production |
SPECTRE production Rennes CBA Brüssel Magellan films Brüssel |
Produced by
Thank You & Good Night productions
https://thankyouandgoodnight.be/ https://thankyouandgoodnight.be/
Jubilee
Vincent Meessen
Juste un mouvement | Just A Movement
Forum · Berlinale Meets | Interview · Feb 19, 2021
Vincent Meessen
Born in 1971 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He studied journalism and cultural policy and works as a filmmaker, visual artist and author in Brussels. His artistic works are presented internationally at festivals and in exhibitions.
Filmography
2005 N12°13.062'/WOO1°32.619'Extended; 9 min. 2006 De Vennoten / Les sociétaires; 9 min. · The Invisible's Parliament; 5 min. 2007 Made in Belgium; 3 min. 2009 Dear Advisor; 8 min. · Vita Nova; 28 min. 2015 One.Two.Three; 35 min. 2018 Ultramarine; 42 min. 2020 Quelle que soit la longueur de la nuit; 78 min.
Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021