Martinique / 2008 / 52mins / Documentary / French

Zétwal, a documentary film, tells the story of local Martinican legend Robert Saint-Rose's attempt to propel himself to outer space through the poetry of writer Aimé Césaire (1913 - 2008). In a contraption built from metal scraps, abandoned cars, and corrugated iron, Saint-Rose's assent to space would be enabled not through fossil fuel or nuclear energy but by employing the artistic writings of the "superman" of black intellectualism, Césaire, to transcend the melancholia which beset Martinique. Saint-Rose was motived by the economic hardships resulting from departmentalization, which instigated riots on the island in the early 1970s.

Gilles Elie-Dit-Cosaque

Gilles Elie Dit-Cosaque is a director, photographer, and graphic designer. He began in advertising as an art director for the agency Opera. For them he worked on campaigns for Swatch, Le Bon Marche, and the City of Paris. He continued his advertising job for MTV, making several short films and music videos, and later became a freelance art and film director. In 2000, he released a series of short films titled Kamo, which was broadcasted on RFO and from there Gilles Elie Dit-Cosaque had a major turning point in his career, by using his films as a way to provoke societal reforms. Prisca, a series of eight short films of 5 minutes, brought AIDS to the forefront in 2001 and 2002. Documentaries like My Grena and I, a film accompanied with a book and photo exhibition, and Overseas Overseas were shown with great reception. In 2003, he embarked on creating his own production company, The House Garage, to carry out his own personal projects. Some of his other works include La liste des courses / The Shopping List (2011) which looks back on the strike movement of 2009 in Martinique, calling for the establishment of a list of products, said to be of primary necessity, for which a price reduction of 20% was requested. The documentary was selected and awarded the Star of Scam (Paris, France) 2012. In 2014, he directed We Will See Pelé Without Paying, about the movement launched by a far left group in 1971 in Martinique, to contest the exorbitant price of a football match with Brazilian footballer, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pelé. In 2016, he produced Je nous nous vus, portraits of addicts to telenovelas, varying from those of South American origin to American soap operas. Learn More