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COMBIEN TA FEMME COÛTE-T-ELLE ?

Fiction

Director
Dame GUEYE
Senegal

Synopsis

Massamba is a young filmmaker who focuses on what is invisible to make it impossible to ignore. He is working on a documentary project about Penda, the wife of his older brother Gora. With his camera, Massamba transforms their small tile-roofed house in the suburbs of Dakar into a social stage, revealing the hidden value behind each of Penda’s gestures.

As the images unfold, the answer becomes a raw, unbearable figure that Gora will have to face. Massamba hopes his film will open people’s eyes to this hidden debt and shatter the comfort of indifference, shedding light on the silent sacrifice of millions of women within their homes.

Intention Note

The film adopts a semi-documentary aesthetic, blending intimate long takes with raw images of daily life. The camera remains close to Penda, capturing the mechanical repetition of her gestures without ever judging her. Household sounds – broom, pots and pans, her tired breathing – compose an organic and immersive soundscape. Natural light will be favoured to highlight the warmth of the home and the weariness of endless days. Massamba embodies lucidity; his camera becomes a silent, almost intrusive witness. The directing alternates between observation and confrontation, especially during the face-to face scenes between Gora and Massamba. Every domestic detail laundry, dishes, meals become a symbol of ignored economic injustice. The editing will play on contrasts: between paid work and unpaid work, between the muted interior and the noise of the street.

No moralizing discourse only images that force the viewer to see the invisible.

About us

Les Ateliers de Grand-Bassam is brought to life by Grand-Bassam Project, a non-profit association that embodies excellence in the film and audiovisual industry. The association is an organization of filmmakers, producers and cultural industry professionals from Ivory Coast, the continent and beyond, who help incubate performing arts and audiovisual projects by applying alternative methods of management, production, marketing and distribution in countries across the continent.

Grand-Bassam Project’s main objective is to contribute to the emergence of a solid, internationally competitive African cultural industry, notably through the development of the performing arts and audiovisual sector, capable of contributing to improving the economic impact of culture and consolidating the employability of young people.

Specifically, the objectives of the Grand-Bassam Project are to :

– Implement and consolidate an incubator for cultural projects and professional training workshops for artists and producers from Ivory Coast and other countries on the continent.

– Contribute to the reappropriation by Ivorian cultural players of the conception and governance of cultural policies, in partnership with public decision-makers at national level.

– Contribute to the dissemination of cinematographic works from the continent Formalize and implement a strategy for the implementation of activities, a risk management plan, as well as a monitoring and evaluation plan for all actions.

– Produce and/or co-produce performing arts and audiovisual works and projects for dissemination on the continent and internationally.

– Intensify artistic education initiatives aimed at children, young people and the general public.

Grand-Bassam Project is in the process of launching its program of activities, which include training, production, distribution, image education and consulting for the first edition of the Ateliers de Grand-Bassam. In keeping with its management strategy, the company’s aim is to combine production activities with socio-educational initiatives.

By working closely with sister organizations in Ivory Coast who share the same passion, Grand-Bassam Project will contribute to the future of cinema in Côte d’Ivoire and beyond.

The association capitalizes on the experience acquired over the last ten years by the Ouaga Film Lab, and projects will be carried out with the expertise required to increase the competitiveness of Ivorian and African filmmakers on the world stage.