Zinder

Aicha Macky – Director

I never search for remote or exotic subjects because right next to me, there are issues that merit my full attention and engagement.

Born in Zinder (Niger) in 1982, Aicha Macky is a filmmaker and social change activist. Having trained as a sociologist, she then turned to documentaries. She completed a Documentary Cinema Master degree in University Gaston Berger / Saint-Louis / Sénégal. In 2016 she completed the worldwide multi-awards-winning film “The Fruitless Tree” ( co-production Les films du balibari/Maggia Images) which addresses the delicate question of infertility. In 2017, she founded her own production company, Tabous production, based in Niamey.

Alongside filmmaking, Aicha is a tutor in mobile cinema, as part of the USAID program, PDEV II (Peace through development) and the NGO « Search for common Grounds ». She guides youngsters in how to facilitate debate with short films on real conflicts in 7 or the 8 regions of Niger which borders countries also in conflict (Nigeria, Libya, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Mali…). These films deal with community resilience and violent extremism.

Filmography

Zinder, 82′, 2021 | The Fruitless Tree, 52′, 2016 | Me and My Tiny Body, 13′, 2015, | How to make a bed, 26′, 2014

THE TEAM

Clara Vuillermoz – Producer

Clara Vuillermoz was born in 1982 in Lons-le-Saunier (Jura). After studying in South Africa for a year, she graduated from the Institut of Political Studies of Lyon (2003). With a film degree and a DESS in directing and producing documentaries (2005), she carried out several assignments in audiovisual production at Roche productions (Paris), Cocottesminute productions (Lyon – 2006-2015 – procirep prize for French producer 2014). She then joined the Nantes company Les films du balibari, a subsidiary of Point du Jour, as a producer and developed author documentaries. In 2019, alongside Estelle Robin You, she won the Procirep Prize for French Producer. In 2020, the two companies merged (Point du Jour-Les films du balibari) to produce documentaries for television, cinema and non-linear. Clara graduated from the EURODOC European production training in 2014, winner of the Sundance program in 2019 and participant in the EAVE training in 2022. She is a full member of the Commission of the CNC Audiovisual Innovation Fund, of the Procirep Commission and of the Cinema-Audiovisual Commission of the South Region.

Ousmane Samassekou – Producer

After graduating in management economics, Ousmane Samassékou continued his studies at the Conservatory of Multimedia Arts and Crafts in Bamako. This is followed by a master’s degree in documentary production creation at the Gaston Berger University of Saint Louis in Senegal. Ousmane is associated with DS Production in Bamako, where he is a producer, director, cameraman and editor. In 2016, he completed his first feature-length documentary on the ills that hinder training and education in Mali “The heirs of the hill”, produced by Label Video (France) and DS Production (Mali). His documentary feature project “The Last Shelter”, produced by Les films du balibari, DS Productions and Steps was presented at the IDFA Forum in 2019 (round tables) and 2020 (rough cut). With this project, Ousmane attended the IDFA Summer School and the IDFA Academy in 2019. As a co-producer of ZINDER, he participated in the Atlas workshops in 2020, in the world cinema factory at the festival of Cannes, at the Ouagafilm lab and at the Produire au Sud workshops of the Three Continents Festival. In October 2018, he won the producer network grant at the Ouaga Producer Lab with the “Tonso” project.

Karen Benainous – Editing

Karen Benainous studied editing at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion. She completes her training with a Masters in Cinema at the University of Paris 8 where she questions the cinematographic forms of memory in documentaries. She has been an editor of feature-length documentaries since 2011. She has notably staged “Bovines” by Emmanuel Gras, “Pauline s’arrache” by Emilie Brisavoine, “Makala” by Emmanuel Gras, Grand Prix de la Semaine de la Critique in 2017, “Treasure Island” by Guillaume Brac, “Les Petites Danseuses” by Anne-Claire Dolivet and “A People” by Emmanuel Gras.

Julien Bossé – Cinematographer

« As an artistic collaborator in the image of documentary cinema, I now work on films with social, political and historical content. The human tale, benevolent and committed, is the basis of my desire for a filmic gaze. My involvement with the production is to nourish myself from the background to develop formal ideas. They carry a discourse by trying never to let aesthetics take precedence over meaning. Bringing my perspective to the production of sensitive films (sensitive and meaningful). Since my work in documentary cinema is not a question of social hierarchy, I like to call myself Cinematographer more than Director of Photography or Chief Camera Operator. »

Abdoulaye Adamou Mato – Sound Engineer / Show & event technical director / Set designer

Stage manager, trained at the Arabo African Center for Theatrical Training and Research, Abdoulaye Adamou Mato is also certified in Sound Recording Technique and Sound Documentary Production of creations from the Imagine Institute (Cinema, TV and Visual Arts Training Institute), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Sound designer and trainer in sound creations in several projects, he also participated and directed sound and light residences and workshops in many creations in Niger and abroad. In 2009, he participated in the international festival: Journées Théâtrales de Carthage (JTC 2009) in Tunis, in 2008 he participated in the Récréatrales Ouagadougou festival. Abdoulaye Adamou Mato has been involved in several disciplines: contemporary dance, cinema, theatre, storytelling, radio, performing arts… He has several creations to his credit: Burocrassie/ Cie Arène Théâtre Récréatrales 2008. Farce tragic, Text: Alfred Dogbé, Director: Edouard Lompo, assisted by Charline Grand. Show the three sages, show Haske maganin douhou, Text: Idi Nouhou, Director: Achirou Wagé.

Julia Hammett-Jamart – Impact Producer

Julia Hammett-Jamart PhD is Director of the Co-production Research Network and an Impact Producer at Best Impact Movies (BIM), currently responsable for the Zinder impact campaign. Her career spans film and television production, policy and research, in both the Australian and European contexts. She has produced and directed documentaries for public broadcaster SBS Television, occupied senior policy positions at the Australian Film Commission and Screen Australia, and held visiting fellowships at the Sorbonne Nouvelle (Université Paris III) and the British Institute in Paris (University of London). Julia holds a PhD in Social Sciences, Media and Communication, consults as a national expert for the European Audiovisual Observatory and is a regular guest lecturer at numerous European institutions, including Kings College London, the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art in Paris, the University of Paris III (Sorbonne Nouvelle) and the University of Copenhagen. Recent publications include a chapter on the relationship between screen policy, research and practice in Reconceptualising Film Policies (Routledge 2017) and a co-edited volume, European Film and Television Co-production: Policy and Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). Julia is a member of the Steering Committee of the Scholar in Residence program of the Festival des Trois Continents (Produire au Sud) and regularly moderates events at this and other European film festivals.

Giulia Boccato-Borne – Impact Producer (until 08/22)

Giulia Boccato is an impact producer at Best Impact Movies and was responsible for the first phase of the film’s impact campaign ‘Zinder’ (until 08/22). She specializes in audiovisual marketing, programming, broadcasting and event organization. Passionate about engaged documentary cinema, she develops impact campaigns around human rights issues. She is the president of the Impact Social Club, the 1st French association of impact films and coordinator of BIM. Giulia started working as an impact producer in 2018 with the film The Valley by Nuno Escudeiro (Point du Jour and Miramonte Films). In addition to Zinder, she has developed with Khadidja Benouataf another international co-production campaign in French-speaking territories (West Africa, France, Switzerland): The Last Refuge by Ousmane Samassekou (Les Films du Balibari, Steps Generation Africa, DS Production) In addition, she is collaborating on a fiction project with Carine Bedoya and Jessie Petret around the film Les Sorcières d’Akelarre (Tita Production, Sophie Dulac Distribution).