A Diplomatic Forum for Creative Equity
Within the glass-paneled headquarters of the United Nations Development Programme in Brazzaville, the Mwassi Festival dedicated an afternoon to a subject that resonates far beyond the projection room: the gendered architecture of African film industries. Delegates from the Republic of Congo, neighbouring Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo joined United Nations officials and artists from diverse disciplines on 27 August for a panel entitled “Gender Dynamics and Cinematic Creation in African Contexts”. Opening the discussion, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Henry-René Diouf framed the event in developmental terms, insisting that the pursuit of gender equality in cultural sectors “constitutes a decisive contribution to national progress”. His remarks positioned the festival as a partner of public policy rather than a purely artistic venture, mapping cinema onto the Sustainable Development Goals in a manner that lent diplomatic gravitas to the occasion.
Structural Barriers Highlighted by Practitioners
The round table gathered four women practitioners—actor-director Razzia Lelahel, producer-director Divana Cate, filmmaker-photographer Aude May and Gabonese actress Adriella Lou—alongside writer and cultural critic Emeraude Kouka, who served as an external observer. In candid exchanges the speakers itemised the hurdles that continue to delimit women’s trajectories: chronically scarce financing mechanisms, opaque distribution circuits, scriptwriting stereotypes that relegate female characters to decorative functions and, most corrosively, harassment that functions as an informal gate-keeping tool. Adriella Lou offered an unvarnished portrait of predatory practices that can accompany casting sessions, warning that “we cannot allow the dreams of young women to be broken before they reach the set.” Her testimony pierced the room’s polite formality, reminding listeners that the conversation was animated by lived experience rather than abstraction.
Representation and the Politics of the Screen
While consensus formed around the existence of structural obstacles, the panellists diverged on how to conceptualise a specifically female cinematic language. Emeraude Kouka argued that artistic value cannot be partitioned by gender, stressing that the real imperative is securing equal conditions of production. “Art is universal,” he remarked, “yet it becomes unacceptable when a woman is impeded in her creative ambition solely because of her sex.” His position prompted reflections on the screen as a locus of power: a space capable of dismantling stereotypes or entrenching them, depending on who crafts the narrative. Aude May and Divana Cate advocated deliberate self-scrutiny—“knowing oneself and making firm choices”, as they phrased it—to resist pressures that may dilute authentic storytelling. Razzia Lelahel summarised the aspiration with austere clarity: “In cinema there is no sex; only competence and artistic vision endure.”
Cultural Norms and Emerging Generations
The debate repeatedly returned to the influence of social expectations within African societies, where familial obligations and customary perceptions of public space continue to shape professional horizons for women. While veterans who laid early foundations for African cinema often remained invisible in critical histories, a younger cohort is now asserting its presence with renewed determination to tell its stories on its own terms. The Mwassi Festival, by allocating physical and symbolic space to these voices, functions as an incubator for that momentum. Its programming strategy—pairing projections with analytic fora—suggests a conviction that sustainable change requires both aesthetic innovation and intellectual engagement.
Institutional Backing and Forward Trajectories
Festival director Pierre Man’s closed the session by situating the conversation within Mwassi’s broader mandate to transmit, recognise and rehabilitate women’s contributions to African film. She conceded that stereotypes remain stubborn, yet emphasised the practical value of collective reflection: “These round tables allow us to envision solutions for a more inclusive future.” The audience, composed largely of emerging professionals, seized the opportunity to interrogate the panellists, transforming the room into a collaborative classroom where expertise circulated horizontally. As screenings and further debates unfold in the coming days, the festival aspires not merely to celebrate cinema but to reimagine it as a terrain where equality is negotiated scene by scene. In that evolving narrative, the Republic of Congo positions itself as both host and stakeholder, aligning cultural diplomacy with the global agenda for gender-responsive development.