The Cannes Film Festival opened yesterday and of the 21 films screening in competition, four are directed by women. The director of "Atlantics", Mati Diop, is the first black female to have a film competing at Cannes. Diop said, “From a symbolic point of view, this is major, and I can’t pretend it isn’t. I am well aware of the rarity of women competing in Cannes, especially non-white women. It’s sad and still hard to believe that a black woman has never been to the competition so far, in 2019, but here we are. This is both a bitter observation because it’s time that it should stop being an exception, and at the same time, it tells us that the lines are moving.â€
You can check out a clip along with a synopsis of the film here.
Atlantics Clip - Mati Diop