Olivier Barlet: According to you, what is important for African cinema today?

Idrissa Ouédraogo: There are two aspects to it — the creators that make films on the continent in spite of inadequate legislative, economic, and legal support; beyond that, there is the politics of the countries.

The creator looks for the best way to express their work in accordance with the economic conditions, the population’s desire, and the world environment. Through satellites, everybody watches foreign TV. Cinema has to reach out to these populations at the periphery. The major problem is distribution. Creators won’t stop making movies, but without distribution the public won’t see their works! Moreover, theaters cost more than some economies can afford. Thanks to new technologies, video is gaining ground. The real question is which broadcast medium is the most democratic.

Olivier Barlet: What prompts you today to make La colère des dieux [The Hunger of the Gods]?

Idrissa Ouédraogo: I have carried this story in me for the last ten years. I could not get the money to produce the film, because I was frustrated by people who had their own agenda and who did not care for my ideas. It is a pity that the film was made on a shoestring, but we are happy to have made it. I won’t do another feature film in such drastic conditions. People forget that we went to Cannes, that we won prizes. We helped create and promote African cinema. Then we end up having to make TV movies for our people as if true creators did not exist in Africa. We have not realized that you can create with smaller tools. Having to wait five to six years to get funding to make a film is dramatic!

Olivier Barlet: Have you been influenced by some specific cinematography?

Idrissa Ouédraogo: When I saw Dancer in the Dark, it made me think. It is interesting to consider the potential of digital cinema. We already project digital images. It is the first time that God is helping us a little, helping us catch the train at the same time as others. We have to develop our know-how.

Olivier Barlet: Do you consider African literature a source of inspiration?

Idrissa Ouédraogo: Compared to cinema, literature gets right to the core of things. Even though few people read in this country, our writers have multiplied. They take advantage of the diversity of their surroundings. They talk about everyday things. Cinema, being more expensive, has become more elitist in its themes and in the way it talks about our society. We do not adapt popular books. We don’t read enough for that.

Adaptation is a real skill to master. For La colère des dieux, we did without a script although the funding was based on a script. Every day we would invent new scenes. Writing does not come easily to Africans… with the exception of Sembène maybe. We Africans write more slowly. But the images are very clear in our heads. It is just that writing is not at the heart of our culture. Problems arise because the members of grant committees who don’t know about our culture will judge us on the basis of the script. In fact, between a sentence and an image, the image is the one that speaks the truth, that is the one that conveys the emotion. That is the one that translates the word.

Excerpt from Through African Eyes: Dialogues with the Directors. African Film Festival, Inc.; First Edition (January 1, 2003).