Niger / 1985 / 16mins / Documentary

In Bukoki, a neighborhood in Niamey, Niger, a craftsman collects old boxes of preserves, beer, pieces of metal from scrap market. Back in his laboratory, he melts these elements to recover aluminum that will be used to manufacture objects from daily life in an artisanal and artistic way, including pots, ladles, spoons and more.

Mariama Hima

Mariama Hima Yankori, born in 1951 in Niamey, is a Nigerien film director, actress, ethnologist and politician. She became the first female Nigerien film director in the 1980s, was State Secretary of Promotion of Women and Protection of Children, and later the first female Nigerien ambassador to France. In 1973, she left for France and studied ethnolinguistics at the École pratique des hautes études in Paris. She received her Ph.D in 1989 from the University Paris X in anthropology. In the 1980s and 1990s she shot several documentary films. Hima's documentaries focused on artisans working in Niamey. They have been awarded prizes at international film festivals, including Venice and Beaubourg. After shooting most of her films, Hima worked for over a decade as a conservator at the National Museum of Niger in Niamey, where between 1992 and 1996 she served as the director. In 1990, she was designated the national Director of Culture. In 1996, Hima was appointed the State Secretary of Promotion of Women and Protection of Children by president Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara. Subsequently, she became Minister of Social Development of Niger. In 1997, she was appointed the ambassador of Niger in France, becoming the first female Nigerien ambassador. She remained the ambassador in Paris until 2003. Hima is the Chevalier and the Grand Officier of the National Order of Merit and the Commandeur of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques. Learn More