CINETOPIA:DOC presents THE CEMETERY OF CINEMA

In 1953, Mamadou Toureì directed the film Mouramani, considered the first film ever made by an African French-speaking director. However, no one knows where to find a print, neither if one even exists. Guinean director Thierno Souleymane Diallo embarks on a quixotic quest to trace back the film in the hope that he will eventually find a print. Equipped with a video camera and a microphone, he travels through the country, sometimes on the back of a donkey, sometimes barefoot, and sets out to find people who can tell him about the film’s history and its reception. Thus, the director takes us into a journey through Guinea’s film history through deserted cinema halls and abandoned film archives, and eventually finds himself in the caverns of the film archives in France and in the radical community cinema of La Clef in Paris.

Alternating between observational scenes of everyday life, interviews, performative elements and re-enactments, THE CEMETERY OF CINEMA is a multi-layered portrait of a country that is thought to have played a pioneering role in African cinema. A lively and thoughtful exploration of the importance of film archives and the ongoing colonial power held over these, this film is an essential watch in the current reexamination of film canons.

Cinetopia:DOC is a monthly doc club bringing audiences together to watch, discuss and connect around the documentary genre and craft. We screen exceptional documentary films alongside filmmaker Q&As or conversations as well as offer a space afterwards for continued discussion and networking in the Cameo bar.  Cinetopia: DOC is supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, and funded by Screen Scotland and National Lottery funding from the BFI and the Scottish Documentary Institute and produced by Cinetopia, a hub of activity around filmgoing and filmmaking based in Edinburgh.