1 00:00:10,844 --> 00:00:16,640 NOTES FOR AN AFRICAN ORESTEIA 2 00:00:17,100 --> 00:00:22,104 With the participation of a group of African students of the University of Rome 3 00:01:04,272 --> 00:01:06,356 I am looking through the camera at my reflection 4 00:01:06,483 --> 00:01:10,986 in the window of a shop in an African city. 5 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,407 I have come to film, but to film what? 6 00:01:15,533 --> 00:01:17,659 Not a documentary or a film. 7 00:01:17,786 --> 00:01:20,829 I have come to film notes for a film. 8 00:01:21,081 --> 00:01:23,916 This film would be the Oresteia by Aeschylus, 9 00:01:24,042 --> 00:01:28,170 filmed in the Africa of today, in modern Africa. 10 00:01:32,133 --> 00:01:34,927 I chose, for Aeschylus' Oresteia, 11 00:01:35,053 --> 00:01:38,097 an African nation which seemed typical to me. 12 00:01:38,848 --> 00:01:44,144 A socialist nation, with philo-Chinese Tendencies, as you can see. 13 00:01:47,857 --> 00:01:51,610 But this choice is not yet definitive, 14 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:54,988 because as well as the attraction to China, 15 00:01:55,198 --> 00:01:59,409 there is another, no less fascinating attraction: America. 16 00:01:59,536 --> 00:02:02,454 Or to put it better, neocapitalism. 17 00:02:07,335 --> 00:02:11,338 You all know the story of Aeschylus' Oresteia. 18 00:02:11,464 --> 00:02:15,092 I'll sum it up briefly, and give only the facts. 19 00:02:15,218 --> 00:02:17,678 We are in Argos, 20 00:02:17,804 --> 00:02:22,432 the city ruled by Agamemnon, who is about to return from war in Troy. 21 00:02:22,559 --> 00:02:26,395 His wife Clytemnestra awaits him, but she loves another man, Aegisthus, 22 00:02:26,521 --> 00:02:29,565 and she awaits him with the sole intention of killing him. 23 00:02:29,691 --> 00:02:34,194 Agamemnon returns to his city exhausted and destroyed, 24 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,865 and Clytemnestra tricks him and murders him. 25 00:02:38,283 --> 00:02:43,704 Cassandra, the slave that Agamemnon brought back from Troy, 26 00:02:44,497 --> 00:02:47,708 had warned him in vain about this murder. 27 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:55,507 Agamemnon and Clytemnestra had two children' Orestes and Electra. 28 00:02:55,633 --> 00:02:59,386 Electra witnessed the crime, but Orestes was far from home. 29 00:03:00,305 --> 00:03:04,725 But when he grows into a young man and returns to Argos, 30 00:03:04,976 --> 00:03:09,104 he meets Electra in secret by the grave of their father Agamemnon, 31 00:03:09,355 --> 00:03:11,565 and together they decide to take revenge. 32 00:03:11,691 --> 00:03:15,068 Orestes goes in disguise to the Court in Argos, 33 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:17,821 and, thanks to a trick, 34 00:03:18,031 --> 00:03:20,657 ferociously murders his mother, Clytemnestra. 35 00:03:20,783 --> 00:03:24,620 But as soon as he has murdered his mother, the Furies appear to him, 36 00:03:24,746 --> 00:03:28,957 the Erinyes, the goddesses of ancestral terror. 37 00:03:29,083 --> 00:03:33,045 Orestes flees, but he is protected by the god Apollo. 38 00:03:34,047 --> 00:03:37,257 And Apollo tells him to turn to the goddess Athena, 39 00:03:37,383 --> 00:03:40,886 the goddess of democracy and reason - 40 00:03:41,012 --> 00:03:44,097 that is to say, the goddess of the new city of Athens. 41 00:03:44,349 --> 00:03:47,726 The goddess Athena decides to help Orestes, 42 00:03:47,852 --> 00:03:51,772 but not to help him, so to say, from above, as a goddess. 43 00:03:51,898 --> 00:03:56,902 She wants to help by making men judge him, and sets up the first human law court. 44 00:03:57,111 --> 00:04:02,532 This human court of law, of democracy and reason, acquits Orestes. 45 00:04:03,159 --> 00:04:06,495 And the Furies are transformed by the goddess Athena 46 00:04:06,621 --> 00:04:08,789 from goddesses of ancestral terror 47 00:04:08,915 --> 00:04:13,126 into, let's call them goddesses of the irrational, 48 00:04:13,253 --> 00:04:16,922 which endures alongside the rational democracy 49 00:04:17,298 --> 00:04:18,840 of the new state. 50 00:05:40,798 --> 00:05:44,509 I started out by looking for the characters. 51 00:05:44,635 --> 00:05:49,306 Throughout Tanzania and Uganda, l photographed dozens of people. 52 00:05:49,891 --> 00:05:52,559 This could be an Agamemnon. 53 00:05:53,227 --> 00:05:54,895 So could this one. 54 00:05:55,021 --> 00:05:58,815 The old Agamemnon who returns exhausted from the Trojan war. 55 00:06:05,490 --> 00:06:10,160 Another variant for Agamemnon, more mythical as you can see. 56 00:06:10,286 --> 00:06:12,371 This is a Masai. 57 00:06:16,959 --> 00:06:21,588 This could be Pylades, Orestes' loyal and honest friend, 58 00:06:21,881 --> 00:06:24,591 who is always by his side, 59 00:06:24,717 --> 00:06:28,595 and who only pronounces a few words in the whole tragedy, these ones: 60 00:06:29,597 --> 00:06:32,224 And what will be the words of your god, 61 00:06:32,350 --> 00:06:35,644 the sacred words, the integrity of oaths? 62 00:06:35,770 --> 00:06:39,106 lt is better to have men as your enemies than gods. 63 00:06:43,986 --> 00:06:46,905 This sinister black veil 64 00:06:47,407 --> 00:06:50,784 could be hiding the face of Clytemnestra. 65 00:07:12,265 --> 00:07:17,185 This could be - l won't say Cassandra, she was young and beautiful. 66 00:07:17,645 --> 00:07:20,772 But it could be one of Cassandra's magic gestures. 67 00:07:22,525 --> 00:07:23,984 Electra. 68 00:07:26,988 --> 00:07:31,741 Electra is the most difficult character to find in today's Africa. 69 00:07:32,118 --> 00:07:35,579 Young African women seem to be deprived 70 00:07:35,830 --> 00:07:40,000 of those feelings of hardness, pride and hatred which drove Electra. 71 00:07:41,711 --> 00:07:47,132 And they smile, they seem only to know how to laugh, accept life as a celebration, 72 00:07:47,425 --> 00:07:51,553 with their beautiful, bright headscarves: red, yellow, blue, purple. 73 00:08:10,448 --> 00:08:11,865 Orestes. 74 00:08:24,795 --> 00:08:28,715 l would like my film of the Oresteia in Africa 75 00:08:28,841 --> 00:08:32,552 to have essentially working class characters. 76 00:08:32,678 --> 00:08:36,097 So l would like the chorus to be of huge importance. 77 00:08:36,224 --> 00:08:42,270 ln Greek tragedies, the chorus is static and speaks as one. 78 00:08:42,647 --> 00:08:48,318 Here however l would like to set it in real, realistic situations, in daily life. 79 00:08:48,444 --> 00:08:54,074 Here we are by Lake Victoria, where l started looking for the chorus. 80 00:08:57,161 --> 00:08:59,996 A hut on the shores of Lake Victoria. 81 00:09:02,458 --> 00:09:06,336 And the objects you see are the only objects 82 00:09:06,629 --> 00:09:09,256 owned by its inhabitants. 83 00:09:11,384 --> 00:09:12,926 There's nothing else. 84 00:09:21,477 --> 00:09:23,728 Here is the inside of the hut. 85 00:09:27,608 --> 00:09:31,319 The mother with her little boy. 86 00:09:33,364 --> 00:09:36,032 With the next-door neighbours. 87 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,547 And over there the father, captured by the indiscretion of the camera. 88 00:09:53,884 --> 00:09:58,722 Here however we are on a ferry, to cross an arm of Lake Victoria. 89 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:03,852 Full of farmers, 90 00:10:04,228 --> 00:10:07,772 on their way to the market of course. The workers. 91 00:10:26,834 --> 00:10:31,421 Here is the other shore of Lake Victoria, which we are drawing close to. 92 00:10:32,590 --> 00:10:37,093 Directed towards the centre of Africa, towards Kigoma, 93 00:10:37,386 --> 00:10:40,930 on Lake Tanganyika, right opposite Congo. 94 00:10:41,057 --> 00:10:45,769 As well as for characters, l also looked for locations of course. 95 00:10:46,270 --> 00:10:50,565 Just like the characters, the locations should be realistic, true. 96 00:11:04,205 --> 00:11:06,122 Here we are on the road to Kigoma, 97 00:11:07,249 --> 00:11:09,918 to the centre of Africa. 98 00:11:11,879 --> 00:11:15,048 This village is called Kazulu. 99 00:11:17,301 --> 00:11:19,469 lt's still close to prehistory, 100 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:22,597 these houses have only recently been built. 101 00:11:23,599 --> 00:11:27,102 There was only a simple market here up to a few years ago. 102 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,776 And this boy, another possible member of the chorus, 103 00:11:34,902 --> 00:11:36,986 takes us to the market. 104 00:11:41,826 --> 00:11:45,620 Here it is, poor and abandoned, 105 00:11:46,831 --> 00:11:49,290 underneath the violence of the sun. 106 00:12:00,177 --> 00:12:04,681 And here is another, modest small town, 107 00:12:04,807 --> 00:12:09,978 where there was once nothing but a deserted space in the savannah or forest 108 00:12:10,104 --> 00:12:14,190 where farmers from surrounding villages gathered for the market. 109 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:17,986 This, in fact, is another market. 110 00:12:20,114 --> 00:12:24,117 l'll repeat the nature of my film: it must be profoundly working class. 111 00:12:24,243 --> 00:12:28,747 These must be the protagonists, here, this woman fetching water from a well. 112 00:12:30,541 --> 00:12:32,584 This baby. 113 00:12:45,055 --> 00:12:47,807 This elegant young man. 114 00:12:52,855 --> 00:12:57,317 The members of the chorus will chat around the petrol-pump attendants, 115 00:12:57,443 --> 00:13:02,071 their clients, the curious children, the tailors. 116 00:13:11,165 --> 00:13:14,918 The tailors and their clients have big discussions. 117 00:13:15,419 --> 00:13:18,671 They talk of powerful people, they discuss politics. 118 00:13:23,177 --> 00:13:26,554 Big debates are had at the hairdresser's 119 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:29,557 like everywhere else in the world. 120 00:13:32,686 --> 00:13:37,398 This however is the market of a city - the city of Kigoma, 121 00:13:37,525 --> 00:13:40,360 on the edges of the small city. 122 00:13:42,238 --> 00:13:47,617 Other characters: slightly thuggish young men. 123 00:13:49,787 --> 00:13:52,288 Inquisitive children. 124 00:14:09,682 --> 00:14:13,393 Here however is what we might call an ancient-style market, 125 00:14:13,519 --> 00:14:17,105 just like what many markets in the savannah must have been like, 126 00:14:17,231 --> 00:14:21,609 and where farmers would go now and again to exchange their goods. 127 00:14:28,492 --> 00:14:32,704 This people, captured in their day-to-day business, 128 00:14:32,830 --> 00:14:35,415 and their humble daily lives, 129 00:14:35,541 --> 00:14:39,919 should be the protagonists of my film, the African Oresteia. 130 00:14:40,170 --> 00:14:43,923 lt is they who, because they are so realistic, so true, 131 00:14:44,049 --> 00:14:47,176 carry inside them that mythical, sacred moment, 132 00:14:47,511 --> 00:14:51,014 which will make them say sentences like this one: 133 00:14:51,891 --> 00:14:56,895 God, if this is your name, if you want me to invoke you with this name, 134 00:14:57,021 --> 00:14:59,105 l have weighed everything up. 135 00:14:59,356 --> 00:15:01,649 l know nobody but you 136 00:15:02,568 --> 00:15:05,904 who can truly free me from the nightmare weighing down on my heart. 137 00:15:08,324 --> 00:15:12,619 Of course, l will not neglect the factories in the modern side of Africa. 138 00:15:14,204 --> 00:15:19,125 This is a factory city, of a factory near Dar es Salaam. 139 00:15:20,586 --> 00:15:24,964 A factory city which looks like every other factory city in the world. 140 00:15:25,507 --> 00:15:28,968 With girls, some of whom still belong to the ancient world, 141 00:15:29,094 --> 00:15:31,262 archaic peasants let's call them. 142 00:15:31,388 --> 00:15:36,768 Whereas others are already modern, advanced - like this one for example. 143 00:15:42,566 --> 00:15:46,611 And as well as the factories, l will not neglect the schools. 144 00:15:49,281 --> 00:15:53,076 This school is very modern, as you can see. 145 00:15:54,078 --> 00:15:55,703 lt's near Kigoma. 146 00:15:55,871 --> 00:16:01,000 lt's called Livingstone, because it's near the place where Livingstone met Stanley. 147 00:16:01,168 --> 00:16:03,670 Desacralising Africa. 148 00:16:04,838 --> 00:16:09,008 Marking the start of the new era of modern Africa. 149 00:16:12,012 --> 00:16:14,889 The boys are working. 150 00:16:15,015 --> 00:16:19,894 According to modern pedagogical methods, study should be combined with work. 151 00:16:25,067 --> 00:16:27,402 From fields to reading. 152 00:16:34,618 --> 00:16:39,580 Here is a classroom full of zealous and respectful students. 153 00:16:41,166 --> 00:16:47,255 African students, presented with knowledge which still seems to them like a gift, 154 00:16:48,298 --> 00:16:51,718 are obedient, passive and humble. 155 00:16:59,226 --> 00:17:02,687 So, you have seen some travel notes 156 00:17:02,813 --> 00:17:07,191 which have helped me block some scenes, define some characters 157 00:17:07,443 --> 00:17:10,111 for my film of the Oresteia. 158 00:17:10,237 --> 00:17:13,322 First of all, l would like to tell you why l decided 159 00:17:13,449 --> 00:17:16,159 to set the Oresteia in today's Africa. 160 00:17:16,660 --> 00:17:19,620 This is the essential, profound reason: 161 00:17:19,747 --> 00:17:22,665 l feel l can see analogies between 162 00:17:22,791 --> 00:17:26,127 the Oresteia and Africa today. 163 00:17:26,253 --> 00:17:29,839 Above all in terms of the transformation 164 00:17:29,965 --> 00:17:32,508 of the Erinyes into Eumenides. 165 00:17:32,634 --> 00:17:36,345 lt seems to me that African tribal civilisation 166 00:17:36,472 --> 00:17:39,474 resembles Greek archaic civilisation. 167 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,643 And the discovery of democracy made by Orestes, 168 00:17:42,770 --> 00:17:44,854 which he then takes to his country - 169 00:17:44,980 --> 00:17:48,983 Argos in the tragedy, Africa in our film - 170 00:17:49,109 --> 00:17:54,572 is, in a way, the discovery of democracy which Africa has made in recent years. 171 00:17:55,616 --> 00:17:58,826 So the first two questions l want to ask you are these: 172 00:17:58,952 --> 00:18:04,499 do you think l could set this film in Africa today, in 1970, 173 00:18:04,625 --> 00:18:07,835 or would it be more fitting to backdate the film, 174 00:18:07,961 --> 00:18:10,880 and set it in 1960 Africa, 175 00:18:11,006 --> 00:18:16,344 during the period when most African states gained independence? 176 00:18:16,804 --> 00:18:19,680 l think - in my opinion, 177 00:18:19,890 --> 00:18:23,851 this film would be very valuable 178 00:18:23,977 --> 00:18:27,271 if it was set in the 1960s. 179 00:18:27,397 --> 00:18:31,859 Because today Africa is becoming modern 180 00:18:32,277 --> 00:18:35,863 and is starting to resemble Europe. 181 00:18:35,989 --> 00:18:40,701 lt's losing some of its typically African character. 182 00:18:40,828 --> 00:18:42,745 Do you agree with him? 183 00:18:43,122 --> 00:18:47,625 Africa isn't a nation, it's a continent. 184 00:18:47,751 --> 00:18:51,671 Yes, but what l'm asking you is, firstly, 185 00:18:51,797 --> 00:18:56,759 when do you think it should be set, 60s or 70s, 186 00:18:57,010 --> 00:19:02,265 and in what place? For example, where in Africa would you imagine it? 187 00:19:05,018 --> 00:19:07,603 But l haven't traveled around Africa. 188 00:19:07,729 --> 00:19:09,564 Where are you from? 189 00:19:09,940 --> 00:19:11,357 Ethiopia. 190 00:19:11,483 --> 00:19:13,734 And you only know Ethiopia? 191 00:19:14,111 --> 00:19:18,114 Yes, but it's not that... "Africa" ' when you say "Africa", 192 00:19:18,323 --> 00:19:22,451 it goes from the Mediterranean to the furthest point. 193 00:19:22,578 --> 00:19:25,913 From the Atlantic Ocean to the lndian Ocean. 194 00:19:26,039 --> 00:19:28,791 So you can't say "Africa" . 195 00:19:29,168 --> 00:19:33,838 On the subject of this film, l would like to remind its author 196 00:19:34,423 --> 00:19:38,843 that you shouldn't make too much of the issue of tribalism in Africa. 197 00:19:39,386 --> 00:19:44,056 Because Europeans generally made too much of tribalism 198 00:19:44,349 --> 00:19:46,475 to justify their crimes. 199 00:19:47,060 --> 00:19:48,811 So if we talk about Africa, 200 00:19:48,937 --> 00:19:51,606 we're talking about a race, not tribes, 201 00:19:51,732 --> 00:19:54,817 When we say ltaly, we don't mean the people of Cagliari, 202 00:19:54,943 --> 00:19:58,404 and when we say France, we don't mean the Bretons. 203 00:19:58,989 --> 00:20:00,948 That's all l wanted to add. 204 00:20:01,074 --> 00:20:02,909 Let's not be afraid of reality. 205 00:20:03,035 --> 00:20:05,494 lf there are still tribes in Africa, 206 00:20:05,621 --> 00:20:09,373 if the Libo tribe feels it is different from the Hausa tribe, 207 00:20:09,499 --> 00:20:13,127 this is a reality which we must have the courage to address. 208 00:20:13,420 --> 00:20:16,756 People talk too much about the issue of tribes. 209 00:20:17,216 --> 00:20:19,842 When someone commits a crime in Nigeria, 210 00:20:19,968 --> 00:20:22,303 they talk about the Biafra tribe. 211 00:20:22,429 --> 00:20:25,139 ln Congo, they talk about the Katanga. 212 00:20:25,265 --> 00:20:27,475 l ask that if we discuss the Congo, 213 00:20:27,601 --> 00:20:29,435 let's talk about the Congolese. 214 00:20:29,561 --> 00:20:33,272 lf we refer to Niger, let's talk about Nigeriens, not the Biafra. 215 00:20:33,398 --> 00:20:36,817 Because when we say "ltaly" ' we talk about Italians. 216 00:20:38,028 --> 00:20:41,322 What you're saying is very interesting, but let me ask you: 217 00:20:41,448 --> 00:20:44,408 who defined the borders of Congo or Nigeria? 218 00:20:44,534 --> 00:20:46,077 The colonialists did. 219 00:20:46,203 --> 00:20:50,081 So the Nigerian reality is a false reality, 220 00:20:50,207 --> 00:20:52,500 constructed by European leaders. 221 00:20:52,626 --> 00:20:54,710 They drew lines on a map, 222 00:20:54,836 --> 00:20:57,296 but these do not correspond to Nigerian reality. 223 00:20:57,422 --> 00:21:01,509 l think there is a danger when you talk about democracy. 224 00:21:02,094 --> 00:21:04,095 For many Africans, 225 00:21:04,221 --> 00:21:09,725 l don't know if European, modern civilisation 226 00:21:10,185 --> 00:21:12,561 has really brought us democracy 227 00:21:12,688 --> 00:21:16,190 as a historian would understand it. 228 00:21:17,234 --> 00:21:20,403 You've made a very interesting observation, 229 00:21:20,529 --> 00:21:22,571 which really speaks to me. 230 00:21:22,698 --> 00:21:24,407 When l say "democracy", 231 00:21:24,533 --> 00:21:27,034 l don't mean real democracy, 232 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,537 l mean formal democracy. 233 00:21:29,663 --> 00:21:32,415 When Orestes arrives in Athens 234 00:21:32,541 --> 00:21:35,918 and Athena sets up the first human court of law - 235 00:21:36,044 --> 00:21:38,629 for the first time, men, through elections - 236 00:21:38,755 --> 00:21:40,506 the judges are elected - 237 00:21:40,632 --> 00:21:43,801 and they, not the gods, are the ones to judge this man - 238 00:21:43,927 --> 00:21:47,054 a great step is made in the history of mankind. 239 00:21:47,180 --> 00:21:49,265 But it is a purely formal one. 240 00:21:49,391 --> 00:21:52,601 Then this form is filled out by real democracy. 241 00:21:53,186 --> 00:21:57,690 l'm not a filmmaker, but l don't see the connection. 242 00:21:58,775 --> 00:22:01,068 Do you all agree with him? 243 00:22:01,194 --> 00:22:03,863 ls there maybe someone who sees a connection, 244 00:22:03,989 --> 00:22:05,948 a possibility of connection? 245 00:22:10,829 --> 00:22:14,582 l think the idea could probably work. 246 00:22:15,751 --> 00:22:18,419 But it would just remain a little. . . 247 00:22:18,545 --> 00:22:20,629 something imaginative. 248 00:22:22,424 --> 00:22:25,593 To make a reality out of it would be quite difficult. 249 00:22:27,179 --> 00:22:29,930 At least a daily reality. 250 00:22:30,057 --> 00:22:34,852 Maybe if you set the film in the 60s or 50s. 251 00:22:36,605 --> 00:22:39,690 But you can find the link. 252 00:22:46,323 --> 00:22:50,034 There are still other characters to find: the Furies. 253 00:22:50,243 --> 00:22:53,412 But the Furies cannot be represented as humans. 254 00:22:54,664 --> 00:23:00,252 So l would decide to represent them in a non-human form. 255 00:23:02,547 --> 00:23:04,882 These trees for example. 256 00:23:05,008 --> 00:23:07,259 Lost in the silence of the forest, 257 00:23:08,553 --> 00:23:11,347 monstrous somehow, and terrible. 258 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,484 The awfulness of Africa is its solitude. 259 00:23:27,197 --> 00:23:30,491 The monstrous forms that nature can take there. 260 00:23:32,327 --> 00:23:36,205 The profound, threatening silences. 261 00:23:39,668 --> 00:23:42,169 irrationality is animal. 262 00:23:42,712 --> 00:23:46,799 The Furies are the goddesses of the animal moment of man. 263 00:23:52,305 --> 00:23:55,307 This wounded lioness, too, could be a Fury, 264 00:23:55,434 --> 00:23:57,518 lost in her blind suffering. 265 00:24:13,535 --> 00:24:16,412 The Furies in Aeschylus' Oresteia 266 00:24:16,538 --> 00:24:19,165 are destined to be defeated, to disappear. 267 00:24:23,086 --> 00:24:26,755 Thus, with them, the ancestral, ancient world disappears. 268 00:24:28,675 --> 00:24:32,720 And in my film, destined to disappear with them, 269 00:24:32,846 --> 00:24:35,431 is a part of ancient Africa. 270 00:25:03,543 --> 00:25:06,045 But it's time to begin our story. 271 00:25:06,171 --> 00:25:09,632 This could be the guardian who, at Clytemnestra's request, 272 00:25:09,758 --> 00:25:11,467 on the tower near Argos, 273 00:25:11,593 --> 00:25:14,136 looks out for the return of Agamemnon's army. 274 00:25:14,262 --> 00:25:16,639 This must be announced, as agreed, 275 00:25:16,765 --> 00:25:20,226 by a line of fires going from Mount lda, near Troy, 276 00:25:20,352 --> 00:25:22,770 up to the area surrounding Argos. 277 00:25:23,271 --> 00:25:26,482 But let's read a passage from Aeschylus' Oresteia. 278 00:25:27,067 --> 00:25:29,777 Who can have alerted you so quickly? 279 00:25:30,070 --> 00:25:33,822 lt was the God of Fire, burning on Mount lda. 280 00:25:34,282 --> 00:25:36,951 Behind him, a whole luminous chain 281 00:25:37,077 --> 00:25:40,746 lit up little by little until it reached us. 282 00:25:41,289 --> 00:25:44,375 Mount lda sparkling with burning wood. 283 00:25:44,501 --> 00:25:49,380 The incandescent sign which flew from Lemnos to be reflected on Mount Athos, 284 00:25:49,506 --> 00:25:51,507 on Zeus' kingdom. 285 00:25:51,633 --> 00:25:53,175 And the third stage: 286 00:25:53,468 --> 00:25:57,388 from here, leaping over the sea, 287 00:25:57,973 --> 00:26:01,809 the beacon bearing the message exults in its fiery power. 288 00:26:02,102 --> 00:26:06,146 From one beacon to the next, until this night-time sun burns 289 00:26:06,439 --> 00:26:08,232 over Mount Macistus. 290 00:26:08,358 --> 00:26:13,237 Another light, even stronger, capable of travelling the longest distances, 291 00:26:14,322 --> 00:26:16,949 is made, sweeps over Lake Gorgopus, 292 00:26:17,242 --> 00:26:20,619 arrives at Mount Aegiplanctus, 293 00:26:20,912 --> 00:26:24,164 pushes the new fire not to stop for an instant, 294 00:26:24,291 --> 00:26:26,709 lighting a wild, ardent brassier. 295 00:26:27,627 --> 00:26:31,130 A beam of flames so bright that its light 296 00:26:31,423 --> 00:26:34,466 jumps over the promontory at the Saronic straits, 297 00:26:34,593 --> 00:26:36,510 swoops down, 298 00:26:36,803 --> 00:26:39,888 touches Mount Arachnaeus, close to Argos now, 299 00:26:40,015 --> 00:26:42,891 and falls on this roof of the House of Atreus, 300 00:26:43,101 --> 00:26:46,353 the last link in the chain starting in Troy. 301 00:26:50,275 --> 00:26:53,235 These are notes for a possible flashback 302 00:26:53,528 --> 00:26:55,779 to the Greek army by the Wall of Troy 303 00:26:55,905 --> 00:26:57,615 and to the Trojan War, 304 00:26:57,741 --> 00:27:00,367 following the words of the chorus. 305 00:27:01,703 --> 00:27:04,496 This could be the Greeks' camp. 306 00:27:05,081 --> 00:27:07,374 And this a parade of heroes, of chiefs: 307 00:27:07,500 --> 00:27:10,753 Agamemnon, Menelaus, Achilles, Ulysses. 308 00:27:13,757 --> 00:27:17,843 These could be Greek soldiers training. 309 00:27:19,846 --> 00:27:22,681 Under the command of a Thersites, of course. 310 00:27:31,483 --> 00:27:34,026 These images were not filmed by me. 311 00:27:34,152 --> 00:27:37,655 They were gathered from archive material 312 00:27:37,864 --> 00:27:39,448 filmed during the Biafran war. 313 00:27:48,625 --> 00:27:53,962 But this war should not be understood as a specific war, as the Bafrian war - 314 00:27:54,422 --> 00:27:56,423 but as an abstract war. 315 00:27:56,549 --> 00:27:59,218 Its images are metaphorical images 316 00:27:59,511 --> 00:28:02,096 of what should be the actualization 317 00:28:02,222 --> 00:28:05,933 of the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. 318 00:28:11,773 --> 00:28:13,357 As l have repeated, 319 00:28:14,192 --> 00:28:17,611 the great protagonist of my film, 320 00:28:18,029 --> 00:28:21,657 for which these are mere notes, should be the people. 321 00:28:24,035 --> 00:28:27,454 So, during this war, the humble soldiers, 322 00:28:28,039 --> 00:28:30,874 who are wounded, ripped apart, killed. 323 00:29:14,294 --> 00:29:18,213 This could be an image of Troy burning. 324 00:29:19,966 --> 00:29:24,428 These could be images of the sack of Troy, 325 00:29:25,638 --> 00:29:30,225 of the massacres and destruction it suffered after it was conquered. 326 00:29:55,418 --> 00:29:58,128 Nothing is further from these images 327 00:29:58,254 --> 00:30:01,340 than the idea we usually have of Greek classicism. 328 00:30:02,425 --> 00:30:07,221 However - pain, death, mourning, tragedy, 329 00:30:07,514 --> 00:30:10,057 are eternal, absolute elements 330 00:30:10,183 --> 00:30:15,896 which can very well link these images burning with actuality 331 00:30:16,564 --> 00:30:20,984 with the fantastical images of the ancient Greek tragedy. 332 00:30:23,988 --> 00:30:28,158 But an unexpected idea forces me to interrupt this sort of story, 333 00:30:28,827 --> 00:30:33,330 breaking this style without style, the style of documentaries and notes. 334 00:30:33,456 --> 00:30:34,998 This is the idea: 335 00:30:35,208 --> 00:30:39,086 to have the Oresteia sung rather than recited. 336 00:30:40,547 --> 00:30:43,465 To be more precise, to have it sung in jazz style. 337 00:30:43,675 --> 00:30:46,885 And in other words, to choose as singer-actors 338 00:30:47,011 --> 00:30:48,929 American negroes. 339 00:30:49,848 --> 00:30:52,224 This will not be without meaning. 340 00:30:52,350 --> 00:30:55,269 Because if black singer-actors from America 341 00:30:55,395 --> 00:30:57,688 take part in shooting a film in Africa 342 00:30:57,814 --> 00:31:00,190 about the African renaissance, 343 00:31:00,483 --> 00:31:03,610 of course this must have a precise meaning. 344 00:31:03,736 --> 00:31:05,612 lt is clear to everyone, in fact, 345 00:31:05,738 --> 00:31:08,907 that the 20 million black sub-proletarians of America 346 00:31:09,033 --> 00:31:13,579 are the leaders of any revolutionary movement in the Third World. 347 00:31:14,372 --> 00:31:18,542 We are here in a semi-clandestine studio in a western city. 348 00:31:18,918 --> 00:31:23,964 And here we will take down the first notes for our new project. 349 00:33:14,409 --> 00:33:17,285 The scene chosen at this point 350 00:33:17,412 --> 00:33:21,331 is Cassandra's great scene at the beginning of the tragedy. 351 00:33:21,791 --> 00:33:25,210 Those that speak are Cassandra and the Chorus. 352 00:33:25,670 --> 00:33:27,796 This is the situation: 353 00:33:27,964 --> 00:33:32,175 Agamemnon, taking the slave Cassandra with him, 354 00:33:32,301 --> 00:33:36,054 has just returned, exhausted and discouraged. 355 00:33:36,180 --> 00:33:39,224 He has seen too much to still believe in honors. 356 00:33:39,350 --> 00:33:42,686 And in fact the city gives him a sorrowful greeting, 357 00:33:43,021 --> 00:33:46,690 because everyone knows the new reality that awaits him. 358 00:33:46,816 --> 00:33:50,902 His wife Clytemnestra, who has already prepared his death, 359 00:33:51,404 --> 00:33:55,866 welcomes him in, making him walk over precious carpets. 360 00:33:56,701 --> 00:34:01,872 Thus husband and wife enter the Royal Palace, 361 00:34:02,165 --> 00:34:04,708 and disappear from sight. 362 00:34:05,585 --> 00:34:07,961 lt's at this point that Cassandra 363 00:34:08,087 --> 00:34:12,591 has a vision of the murder taking place behind the wall. 364 00:43:27,146 --> 00:43:29,814 Let's return to Africa. 365 00:43:29,940 --> 00:43:32,609 Here is a note for the violent death 366 00:43:32,901 --> 00:43:36,070 prophesied by the visionary Cassandra. 367 00:43:36,822 --> 00:43:39,991 But here l have no words to communicate with. 368 00:45:22,052 --> 00:45:25,096 This clod of overturned, fresh earth, 369 00:45:25,222 --> 00:45:29,308 rectangular shapes, like at the angles of the tufts of grass, 370 00:45:29,810 --> 00:45:33,438 is a grave which l found close to the hut. 371 00:45:38,986 --> 00:45:42,238 A grave like this could be the grave of Agamemnon 372 00:45:42,531 --> 00:45:44,991 in my film on the African Oresteia. 373 00:45:48,078 --> 00:45:52,290 l asked those that live in the hut next to this grave, 374 00:45:52,499 --> 00:45:54,208 a father and a daughter, 375 00:45:54,334 --> 00:45:57,670 to repeat the same gestures and say the same words 376 00:45:57,796 --> 00:46:03,384 as are used when they go to give offerings and say prayers at the grave. 377 00:46:03,719 --> 00:46:07,597 And they diligently assisted me. 378 00:46:08,056 --> 00:46:10,933 And this is a note on what might be 379 00:46:11,059 --> 00:46:14,979 the arrival of Electra to pray at her father's grave. 380 00:46:15,355 --> 00:46:17,732 Let us reread Aeschylus' verses. 381 00:46:19,359 --> 00:46:23,988 God of Hell, king of the living and the dead, 382 00:46:24,323 --> 00:46:26,949 make my prayers be heard 383 00:46:27,075 --> 00:46:30,077 by the spirits that dwell under the earth, 384 00:46:30,204 --> 00:46:33,956 terrible witnesses of the murder of my father, 385 00:46:34,082 --> 00:46:36,000 of the earth itself, 386 00:46:36,126 --> 00:46:38,085 the mother of us all, 387 00:46:38,212 --> 00:46:42,673 who has nourished us, and gathers in herself new shoots of life, 388 00:46:43,467 --> 00:46:47,094 while, pouring this sacred water to the dead, 389 00:46:47,221 --> 00:46:49,680 l pray to my father: 390 00:46:50,140 --> 00:46:55,019 Father, have pity on me and on your son Orestes. 391 00:46:55,145 --> 00:46:58,189 Make it so that we return as rulers to our house. 392 00:46:58,315 --> 00:47:02,026 Now we are no more than two disinherited and hopeless children. 393 00:47:02,152 --> 00:47:04,779 Our own mother reduced us to this, 394 00:47:04,905 --> 00:47:08,282 who married Aegisthus, the accomplice to her murder. 395 00:47:08,408 --> 00:47:10,451 l am alive and a slave, 396 00:47:10,702 --> 00:47:13,412 Orestes is alive and in exile. 397 00:47:13,539 --> 00:47:17,083 And those two triumph, made rich by your riches. 398 00:47:17,543 --> 00:47:20,962 May divine chance bring Orestes back here, 399 00:47:21,088 --> 00:47:25,049 this is what l ask of you - hear me, father. 400 00:47:40,732 --> 00:47:43,609 And here is a note that is different to the others. 401 00:47:43,735 --> 00:47:48,322 l filmed this scene as though it was the real scene in my film. 402 00:47:49,992 --> 00:47:53,327 Orestes arriving at his father's grave. 403 00:47:59,751 --> 00:48:04,380 God, God, look down on our misery! 404 00:48:04,965 --> 00:48:08,885 See, the children of the eagle are without a father, 405 00:48:09,011 --> 00:48:12,305 he died in the coils of a viper. 406 00:48:12,431 --> 00:48:15,933 A terrible hunger tortures these orphans, 407 00:48:16,393 --> 00:48:18,394 for, still almost in their down, 408 00:48:18,520 --> 00:48:22,982 they are not yet able to bring to the nest their father's quarry. 409 00:48:23,108 --> 00:48:26,611 One same fate for me and for her, Electra. 410 00:48:27,070 --> 00:48:31,324 Look at us, orphans, banished from our own home. 411 00:48:31,450 --> 00:48:34,410 lf you let the eagle's fledglings die, 412 00:48:34,661 --> 00:48:37,538 you will no longer be able to send signs from the sky, 413 00:48:37,664 --> 00:48:42,251 and this royal race, this small root of greatness, 414 00:48:42,377 --> 00:48:45,087 will no more be able to consecrate your altar. 415 00:48:45,213 --> 00:48:49,133 Save us. You can make this house great again, 416 00:48:49,801 --> 00:48:52,678 which now is no more than a great ruin. 417 00:49:02,898 --> 00:49:05,816 Thus, Orestes is preparing to avenge his father, 418 00:49:05,943 --> 00:49:08,319 and to kill his mother with his own hands. 419 00:49:08,445 --> 00:49:11,989 But as soon as he has killed his mother, the Furies will appear, 420 00:49:12,115 --> 00:49:14,283 and force him to flee from his home. 421 00:49:25,504 --> 00:49:28,714 And there he goes, and the Furies follow him, 422 00:49:28,966 --> 00:49:32,760 singing their ancestral song of terror and remorse. 423 00:50:23,770 --> 00:50:28,357 Whether l move my feet towards the mountains or the valley, it is in vain. 424 00:50:29,651 --> 00:50:33,738 Whoever flees out of remorse, his suffering has no remedy. 425 00:50:35,449 --> 00:50:38,868 But here is the god that protects Orestes, Apollo, 426 00:50:38,994 --> 00:50:40,703 who speaks to him. 427 00:50:40,954 --> 00:50:43,122 Flee, and never tire! 428 00:50:43,248 --> 00:50:45,041 They are looking for you, 429 00:50:45,333 --> 00:50:49,086 they will follow you wherever you go in this wide world, 430 00:50:49,212 --> 00:50:53,257 even across the sea, even in cities surrounded by water. 431 00:50:53,467 --> 00:50:57,219 But never tire of enduring the sentence you must endure, 432 00:50:57,345 --> 00:51:00,306 before you have reached the country of Athena. 433 00:51:05,395 --> 00:51:08,564 Orestes leaves, roaming the world, 434 00:51:09,649 --> 00:51:14,653 hounded, terrified, but also determined 435 00:51:14,821 --> 00:51:17,364 to achieve his purification. 436 00:51:23,789 --> 00:51:26,415 This is Kampala, the capital of Uganda, 437 00:51:26,541 --> 00:51:30,711 which could represent the ancient and modern city of Athens. 438 00:51:31,880 --> 00:51:36,133 Now Orestes is before the Temple of Apollo. 439 00:51:36,259 --> 00:51:38,385 How will l metaphorically represent, 440 00:51:38,678 --> 00:51:42,389 in my film of the African Oresteia, the Temple of Apollo? 441 00:51:42,682 --> 00:51:45,226 l will represent it using a university. 442 00:51:46,144 --> 00:51:49,105 To be precise, the University of Dar es Salaam, 443 00:51:49,356 --> 00:51:54,652 which, seen from afar, immediately displays disquieting signs 444 00:51:54,945 --> 00:51:59,740 of resembling typical Anglo-Saxon, neocapitalist universities. 445 00:52:16,508 --> 00:52:21,428 Its external aspect, defined by elegant and confident design, 446 00:52:21,555 --> 00:52:25,474 its internal organization, make of it a typical university, 447 00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:28,269 such as you see all over Black Africa. 448 00:52:30,230 --> 00:52:37,027 These, l repeat, conform to the neocapitalist, progressive model. 449 00:52:37,237 --> 00:52:40,364 They are the seat of the future local intelligentsia, 450 00:52:40,490 --> 00:52:43,993 of the culture of knowledge of the young African nations. 451 00:52:44,536 --> 00:52:48,330 And these, in fact, represent all the internal contradictions 452 00:52:48,456 --> 00:52:50,416 of these young African nations. 453 00:53:08,185 --> 00:53:11,896 Here we are in the college bookshop. 454 00:53:12,647 --> 00:53:15,191 And here the contradictions l mentioned 455 00:53:15,317 --> 00:53:18,527 are declared, manifest, explicit. 456 00:53:20,906 --> 00:53:23,699 See this plaque placed above the bookshop. 457 00:53:25,911 --> 00:53:28,370 lt reads that this building 458 00:53:29,289 --> 00:53:31,540 owes its existence to the help 459 00:53:31,666 --> 00:53:35,544 of the people and government of the People's Republic of China. 460 00:53:40,050 --> 00:53:44,345 But inside the books displayed in the bookshop window 461 00:53:45,222 --> 00:53:47,514 is the other alternative: 462 00:53:47,641 --> 00:53:51,435 the neocapitalist, Anglo-Saxon alternative. 463 00:53:52,604 --> 00:53:55,898 Teaching English, An introduction to Teaching, 464 00:53:56,900 --> 00:53:59,818 Handbook for History Teachers in West Africa, 465 00:54:04,115 --> 00:54:09,161 The Social Education of the Adolescent - all works of popularization. 466 00:54:11,957 --> 00:54:13,916 Tales for children. 467 00:54:17,128 --> 00:54:20,631 Or a work of popular history, Julius Caesar. 468 00:54:23,051 --> 00:54:25,636 The New Africans. 469 00:54:29,432 --> 00:54:32,393 Townsmen or Tribesmen. 470 00:54:33,311 --> 00:54:35,938 The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa, 471 00:54:36,189 --> 00:54:39,566 Poems, of course in the Swahili dialect of Kenya. 472 00:54:39,693 --> 00:54:43,862 and new grammars. Here, also, a book about Russia. 473 00:54:46,116 --> 00:54:47,950 And Jesus Christ. 474 00:54:50,453 --> 00:54:52,830 And on American education. 475 00:54:56,376 --> 00:54:58,460 Following Apollo's advice, 476 00:54:58,586 --> 00:55:01,839 Orestes reaches Athens, the new city, 477 00:55:02,590 --> 00:55:06,677 which l have temporarily represented here using mixed materials 478 00:55:06,803 --> 00:55:09,305 collected in Kampala, 479 00:55:10,223 --> 00:55:12,933 in Dar es Salaam, and in Kigoma. 480 00:55:13,685 --> 00:55:16,437 A new city that astounds Orestes, 481 00:55:16,563 --> 00:55:20,899 who has come from barbaric, feudal, religious Argos. 482 00:55:22,861 --> 00:55:26,613 The goddess Athena, the goddess of the new Athenian democracy, 483 00:55:26,740 --> 00:55:28,282 the goddess of reason, 484 00:55:28,408 --> 00:55:30,492 thus decides to help Orestes. 485 00:55:32,829 --> 00:55:36,665 And according to Aeschylus' text, here are her words: 486 00:55:37,334 --> 00:55:40,169 The only solution is for me to appoint judges. 487 00:55:40,295 --> 00:55:43,464 They will swear an oath, and the court thus instituted 488 00:55:43,590 --> 00:55:46,842 will forever have authority. 489 00:55:47,135 --> 00:55:49,595 You, gather your evidence, 490 00:55:49,888 --> 00:55:52,014 your witnesses bound by oath, 491 00:55:52,307 --> 00:55:56,477 l will return, bringing with me the best men in the city, 492 00:55:56,603 --> 00:56:00,689 for them to issue their serene, impartial judgment. 493 00:56:02,108 --> 00:56:04,818 The first elections in history, then - 494 00:56:04,944 --> 00:56:09,698 represented imaginatively by the first elections in independent Africa. 495 00:56:14,287 --> 00:56:16,413 Here we are before the court, 496 00:56:16,539 --> 00:56:18,624 in reality the court of Dar es Salaam, 497 00:56:19,376 --> 00:56:21,919 where Orestes will be judged. 498 00:56:22,921 --> 00:56:26,465 Citizens of Athens, hear what l have decided. 499 00:56:26,841 --> 00:56:30,177 You who, the first in the world, have judged a crime. 500 00:56:30,637 --> 00:56:33,013 From now on and forever, this people 501 00:56:33,431 --> 00:56:36,392 will have the right to its own assembly. 502 00:56:36,684 --> 00:56:41,647 With these words, Athena institutes the first elections of history, 503 00:56:42,023 --> 00:56:45,859 and continues: May neither anarchy nor tyranny 504 00:56:46,152 --> 00:56:49,738 govern you, citizens. But do not fully banish authority. 505 00:56:50,240 --> 00:56:53,033 Nobody does his duty without some fear. 506 00:56:53,159 --> 00:56:55,828 lf you always respect this order, 507 00:56:55,954 --> 00:56:58,705 you will live in peace within your walls, 508 00:56:58,832 --> 00:57:01,583 like no other people in the world. 509 00:57:01,835 --> 00:57:05,921 The assembly l am now founding will stay incorruptible, revered, pure, 510 00:57:06,047 --> 00:57:08,507 guarding the country's peace. 511 00:57:08,633 --> 00:57:12,428 This is my wish for you, citizens, for the future as well. 512 00:57:12,554 --> 00:57:16,140 Now rise, cast your ballots, 513 00:57:16,391 --> 00:57:19,560 and make your judgment, faithful to your oaths. 514 00:57:22,313 --> 00:57:24,398 Thus Orestes is judged. 515 00:57:24,524 --> 00:57:29,069 The Furies accuse him in the name of the ancient, archaic, feudal world, 516 00:57:29,362 --> 00:57:31,697 the religious world. 517 00:57:33,533 --> 00:57:36,326 Athena defends him, and Orestes is absolved. 518 00:57:43,793 --> 00:57:46,962 Now the question l want to ask you is not a serious one, 519 00:57:47,088 --> 00:57:51,091 it's funny. Answer it as you like, maybe even with a joke. 520 00:57:51,301 --> 00:57:54,052 This is the question: you have seen a young man 521 00:57:54,179 --> 00:57:56,430 leaving his ancient world, 522 00:57:57,098 --> 00:57:59,349 with its old gods, its old beliefs, 523 00:57:59,476 --> 00:58:03,145 as a chief's son, since Agamemnon is basically a tribal chief. 524 00:58:03,271 --> 00:58:06,648 He arrives and experiences the western, modern world: 525 00:58:06,774 --> 00:58:10,611 law courts, big buildings, hotels, and above all the university. 526 00:58:10,737 --> 00:58:12,779 You are university students, so. . . 527 00:58:12,906 --> 00:58:15,115 The question l want to ask you is this: 528 00:58:15,241 --> 00:58:18,035 Do you feel a little like you are Orestes? 529 00:58:23,374 --> 00:58:28,504 Yes, because we came here to study, to discover the western world. 530 00:58:29,297 --> 00:58:32,674 Now we have - how do you say it? 531 00:58:32,800 --> 00:58:36,136 We have discovered many things in terms of civilisation, 532 00:58:36,888 --> 00:58:40,557 in terms of progress, of study. 533 00:58:40,850 --> 00:58:43,519 l mean, how to put it... 534 00:58:43,645 --> 00:58:48,774 Orestes was a man who discovered something. 535 00:58:49,192 --> 00:58:50,859 So... 536 00:58:52,278 --> 00:58:56,448 in a way we could represent Orestes. 537 00:58:59,827 --> 00:59:03,539 So you think you might resemble this character 538 00:59:03,665 --> 00:59:06,875 because you have been pushed into an era of knowledge, 539 00:59:07,001 --> 00:59:10,420 satisfying this need for knowledge in a different world. 540 00:59:10,672 --> 00:59:12,381 l would say that... 541 00:59:12,590 --> 00:59:15,717 As my colleague put it, we feel like Orestes, 542 00:59:15,843 --> 00:59:20,180 but not all of us are the sons of a tribal chief. 543 00:59:21,641 --> 00:59:23,183 No. 544 00:59:23,309 --> 00:59:25,519 We can go abroad, 545 00:59:25,645 --> 00:59:30,107 or we have discovered western civilisation... 546 00:59:30,608 --> 00:59:33,068 We have come here to study. 547 00:59:33,695 --> 00:59:38,740 Maybe one of us might be the son of a tribal chief. 548 00:59:39,033 --> 00:59:43,287 But in a way yes, we are all, well... 549 00:59:44,706 --> 00:59:49,042 Orestes. We can represent Orestes. lt's just the tribal chiefs... 550 00:59:49,168 --> 00:59:52,129 You don't have a tribal chief in every family. 551 00:59:54,632 --> 00:59:58,093 l spoke of tribal chiefs to say that Agamemnon was a chief. 552 00:59:58,219 --> 01:00:02,014 Anyway, all of you, in general, or at least in 90% of cases, 553 01:00:02,307 --> 01:00:05,058 come from a family with certain possibilities. 554 01:00:05,393 --> 01:00:10,147 Or this conception could give you the conception of a person who is... 555 01:00:10,356 --> 01:00:15,110 tired of his life, and who wants to explore a new world, 556 01:00:15,236 --> 01:00:17,821 who wants to discover a new civilisation. 557 01:00:18,156 --> 01:00:20,866 Who wants to improve, let's say. 558 01:00:21,576 --> 01:00:25,662 For me, anyway, it could give rise to this conception, to this idea. 559 01:00:28,291 --> 01:00:31,835 Your first answer seems to imply that 560 01:00:31,961 --> 01:00:34,755 by coming, like Orestes, to a modern world, 561 01:00:35,673 --> 01:00:39,593 you are discovering something new and, in a way, positive. 562 01:00:39,719 --> 01:00:44,056 But are you sure that everything you see in the western world is positive, 563 01:00:44,182 --> 01:00:45,891 and what you have left behind is not? 564 01:00:47,018 --> 01:00:50,937 l don't think the world we have left behind is completely negative. 565 01:00:51,064 --> 01:00:55,734 Our resemblance to Orestes is rather... 566 01:00:56,694 --> 01:00:58,987 Let's call it a formal one. 567 01:00:59,947 --> 01:01:02,741 We haven't come to discover a better world. 568 01:01:03,451 --> 01:01:06,453 We are discovering a new world, which has... 569 01:01:07,163 --> 01:01:09,831 Some better properties, not... 570 01:01:10,249 --> 01:01:15,087 l think that Orestes' experience 571 01:01:16,464 --> 01:01:18,340 in the western world 572 01:01:18,466 --> 01:01:22,552 could be useful in the case that, when he went home for example, 573 01:01:23,554 --> 01:01:25,847 he was not able to combine, 574 01:01:26,849 --> 01:01:30,102 or to assimilate his experience 575 01:01:30,770 --> 01:01:33,480 with the ancient ways of his home. 576 01:01:33,606 --> 01:01:35,691 For example, what l mean is... 577 01:01:36,734 --> 01:01:39,695 Cultural alienation. He shouldn't be alienated. 578 01:01:39,821 --> 01:01:42,489 lf he is alienated, in that case, 579 01:01:43,199 --> 01:01:46,284 his coming to the western world would be negative. 580 01:01:46,828 --> 01:01:48,704 He would need to - 581 01:01:49,247 --> 01:01:53,291 transpose, but in a more humane way, 582 01:01:53,418 --> 01:01:57,295 what he learnt in the western world to his home. 583 01:01:58,089 --> 01:02:02,509 This seems to me a very just, intelligent observation. l want to ask you: 584 01:02:02,802 --> 01:02:06,555 lf the way of not being alienated by consumer society, 585 01:02:06,681 --> 01:02:08,724 by modern western society, 586 01:02:08,850 --> 01:02:11,226 could be given to him by the fact 587 01:02:11,352 --> 01:02:13,019 of being African? 588 01:02:13,146 --> 01:02:16,940 l mean by opposing the western form of knowledge 589 01:02:17,066 --> 01:02:19,443 with his own original soul, 590 01:02:19,694 --> 01:02:23,905 which means that the things he learns do not become consumerist notions, 591 01:02:24,031 --> 01:02:26,450 but rather personal, real notions. 592 01:02:26,701 --> 01:02:30,203 l didn't understand the question very well, but l think that 593 01:02:30,329 --> 01:02:32,122 what he learnt - 594 01:02:32,832 --> 01:02:36,877 for example, could help him to - 595 01:02:37,003 --> 01:02:41,381 deepen the ancient knowledge. 596 01:02:42,133 --> 01:02:47,387 l mean from the rural environment he used to live in. 597 01:02:47,722 --> 01:02:50,265 This leads me to the second question: 598 01:02:50,475 --> 01:02:53,143 The film finishes, as l told you, 599 01:02:53,269 --> 01:02:56,730 with the transformation of the Furies into Eumenides. 600 01:02:57,023 --> 01:02:58,774 And this is a kind of synthesis. 601 01:02:59,066 --> 01:03:00,609 How could you represent 602 01:03:00,860 --> 01:03:03,612 the transformation of Furies into Eumenides? 603 01:03:05,072 --> 01:03:08,241 l don't know. This transformation... 604 01:03:08,701 --> 01:03:10,744 Like that, from one into the other - 605 01:03:10,870 --> 01:03:14,498 l don't think it can be completely achieved. 606 01:03:14,624 --> 01:03:17,083 Because both one and the other exist. 607 01:03:17,210 --> 01:03:21,671 And they will always exist, l think. Because African man, fundamentally... 608 01:03:22,173 --> 01:03:23,882 is a man who is so... 609 01:03:25,718 --> 01:03:29,513 who has a very profound interior life. 610 01:03:29,764 --> 01:03:31,431 A very profound spirit. 611 01:03:31,557 --> 01:03:33,558 So when you talk of Furies 612 01:03:33,684 --> 01:03:35,769 which change into... 613 01:03:37,021 --> 01:03:39,272 - Eumenides. - lnto Eumenides. 614 01:03:39,398 --> 01:03:41,775 l don't know. You could probably... 615 01:03:42,401 --> 01:03:45,570 Create Eumenides without the Furies disappearing. 616 01:03:46,572 --> 01:03:49,658 l don't think they could completely disappear. 617 01:03:53,120 --> 01:03:55,705 My film will be very appropriate. 618 01:03:55,957 --> 01:03:58,333 As we've seen, 1960: 619 01:03:58,751 --> 01:04:01,628 the year in which most African states, 620 01:04:01,754 --> 01:04:05,924 in just a few years, make up for a delay 621 01:04:06,050 --> 01:04:10,846 you might say, of centuries or millennia, by achieving independence and democracy. 622 01:04:10,972 --> 01:04:13,306 Even the conclusion must be dated, 623 01:04:13,432 --> 01:04:17,394 l mean it must refer to the African ideology of those years, 624 01:04:17,645 --> 01:04:21,648 which probably had its symbol in Senghor, the president of Senegal. 625 01:04:21,774 --> 01:04:25,277 This is the idea that the new Africa, the Africa of the future, 626 01:04:25,403 --> 01:04:27,112 must be a synthesis 627 01:04:27,321 --> 01:04:29,739 of modern, independent, free Africa, 628 01:04:30,032 --> 01:04:31,908 and of ancient Africa. 629 01:04:41,294 --> 01:04:43,837 How can l represent this transformation 630 01:04:43,963 --> 01:04:46,047 of the Furies into Eumenides? 631 01:04:46,924 --> 01:04:49,092 Filming with my camera 632 01:04:49,218 --> 01:04:51,595 along the streets of Tanzania and Uganda, 633 01:04:51,721 --> 01:04:56,474 l stopped here, for example, in this small village lost in the savannah. 634 01:04:56,726 --> 01:04:59,019 We are with the Wagogo tribe, 635 01:04:59,145 --> 01:05:03,440 one of the many tribes making up the nation of Tanzania. 636 01:05:03,774 --> 01:05:06,026 And l filmed this dance. 637 01:05:06,777 --> 01:05:08,653 This ancient dance - 638 01:05:08,779 --> 01:05:12,157 ancient, so to say - let's say, up to just a few years ago - 639 01:05:12,283 --> 01:05:13,992 was, of course, a rite, 640 01:05:14,118 --> 01:05:16,745 with a precise, religious meaning, 641 01:05:16,871 --> 01:05:18,955 perhaps even cosmogonic meaning. 642 01:05:19,582 --> 01:05:22,626 Now, though, as you see, the Wagogo people 643 01:05:22,752 --> 01:05:27,047 in the same places where they once performed this dance in earnest, 644 01:05:27,173 --> 01:05:30,592 imitate it, in jest, to divert themselves, 645 01:05:30,718 --> 01:05:33,386 divesting these gestures, these movements, 646 01:05:33,512 --> 01:05:35,639 of their ancient sacred meaning 647 01:05:35,765 --> 01:05:38,099 and making them almost out of pure joy. 648 01:05:39,685 --> 01:05:42,145 Here is a metaphor of what might be 649 01:05:42,271 --> 01:05:45,357 the transformation of the Furies into Eumenides. 650 01:05:47,860 --> 01:05:50,236 Let us reread Aeschylus' text once more. 651 01:05:50,363 --> 01:05:54,574 The Furies, as soon as Orestes has been absolved, scream in pain, 652 01:05:54,867 --> 01:05:57,077 their sacredness has been offended. 653 01:05:57,203 --> 01:05:59,037 They protest against Athena. 654 01:05:59,163 --> 01:06:02,332 And Athena tries to convince them, with these words: 655 01:06:03,000 --> 01:06:06,586 l understand your anger. You are older than me. 656 01:06:07,129 --> 01:06:09,422 But though your experience is greater, 657 01:06:09,548 --> 01:06:12,342 God has given me the gift of reason. 658 01:06:13,844 --> 01:06:17,806 Go, go, leave for another land, but you will weep for this one. 659 01:06:18,265 --> 01:06:22,519 l know that the days to come will bring greatness to my people, 660 01:06:22,812 --> 01:06:26,147 and if you are here, in the glorious centre of this city, 661 01:06:26,273 --> 01:06:29,818 you will see processions of men and women bringing you gifts 662 01:06:30,027 --> 01:06:32,779 like no other people in the world can do. 663 01:06:35,116 --> 01:06:38,660 The Furies let themselves be convinced by Athena's words, 664 01:06:39,870 --> 01:06:43,623 and agree to co-exist with her, the goddess of reason - 665 01:06:43,749 --> 01:06:46,084 they, the goddesses of irrationality, 666 01:06:46,293 --> 01:06:47,961 in the new world. 667 01:06:48,546 --> 01:06:51,840 ln the new, independent, democratic, free world. 668 01:07:34,842 --> 01:07:38,470 Here we are in Dodoma, a city in the heart of Tanganyika. 669 01:07:40,347 --> 01:07:42,849 And here we are in the centre of a situation 670 01:07:42,975 --> 01:07:47,437 which, like the dance of the Wagogo, could very well represent poetically, 671 01:07:48,064 --> 01:07:52,233 metaphorically, the transformation of the Furies into Eumenides. 672 01:07:52,359 --> 01:07:55,153 ln the very sense that l was referring to before. 673 01:07:55,529 --> 01:07:57,530 lndeed, these hair-styles, 674 01:07:57,990 --> 01:07:59,783 this way of walking, 675 01:07:59,909 --> 01:08:02,327 these dancing scenes, these gestures, 676 01:08:02,453 --> 01:08:04,537 these tattoos on the face, 677 01:08:04,663 --> 01:08:07,457 are all signs of an ancient, magical world. 678 01:08:08,292 --> 01:08:11,503 Here is a symbol which still today 679 01:08:11,796 --> 01:08:14,089 remains chilling and sinister. 680 01:08:18,302 --> 01:08:21,429 But this magical world appears here, as you can see, 681 01:08:22,056 --> 01:08:25,642 as a tradition, an ancient spirit, 682 01:08:25,976 --> 01:08:29,104 an autochthonous spirit that does not want to be lost. 683 01:08:29,939 --> 01:08:32,565 Here, we are watching a wedding ceremony, 684 01:08:32,691 --> 01:08:37,362 and all these people dressed luxuriously, in their finest clothes, 685 01:08:37,780 --> 01:08:39,989 are going to celebrate the newly-weds. 686 01:08:46,330 --> 01:08:50,041 Here is the mattress on which the newly-weds will sleep. 687 01:08:53,879 --> 01:08:55,797 Dancing gaily and loosely, 688 01:08:55,923 --> 01:08:59,217 the procession nears the house of the newly-weds. 689 01:09:02,138 --> 01:09:04,597 ln an inner courtyard, here are some women, 690 01:09:04,723 --> 01:09:07,267 hired of course, 691 01:09:07,393 --> 01:09:12,605 who, even more than the others, stand for the ancient spirit l mentioned. 692 01:09:15,067 --> 01:09:17,861 Here, this could very well be, in my film, 693 01:09:18,404 --> 01:09:20,947 the Furies transformed into Eumenides. 694 01:09:21,073 --> 01:09:26,035 But let us hear again the words that Athena addresses to the Furies, 695 01:09:26,162 --> 01:09:28,580 as soon as they have been transformed. 696 01:09:29,331 --> 01:09:31,875 l express my rush of love for this city 697 01:09:33,169 --> 01:09:36,129 by welcoming you here as patrons. 698 01:09:36,255 --> 01:09:39,424 Great, restless, mysterious powers. 699 01:09:40,634 --> 01:09:42,886 You will guide all human relationships. 700 01:09:43,888 --> 01:09:47,182 Whoever does not understand that it is right to welcome in 701 01:09:47,308 --> 01:09:49,184 these immortal deities, 702 01:09:49,435 --> 01:09:51,895 does not understand life's contrasts. 703 01:09:52,605 --> 01:09:56,399 And the barbary of the fathers, which is atoned for before them, 704 01:09:57,026 --> 01:09:58,776 and an unwise sense of calm, 705 01:09:59,069 --> 01:10:01,654 despite the cries of his conscience, 706 01:10:02,156 --> 01:10:04,949 can lead him to dark ruin. 707 01:10:08,746 --> 01:10:12,749 Here however we are in the inner courtyard of the house. 708 01:10:13,209 --> 01:10:15,835 As you can see, a more modern party is underway. 709 01:10:15,961 --> 01:10:19,631 A party similar to those in Europe, to any wedding party 710 01:10:19,882 --> 01:10:22,133 you might see in our culture as well. 711 01:10:25,221 --> 01:10:28,056 But here as well, with these modern attitudes 712 01:10:28,933 --> 01:10:30,808 with this modern music, 713 01:10:30,935 --> 01:10:34,646 you can sense that the ancient spirit l spoke of endures. 714 01:10:35,439 --> 01:10:37,440 lt is transformed, as you see, 715 01:10:38,025 --> 01:10:40,526 into desire for happiness, celebration, 716 01:10:40,736 --> 01:10:42,904 into grace, lightness, 717 01:10:43,530 --> 01:10:46,407 traits very typical of the African spirit. 718 01:10:51,455 --> 01:10:56,251 There is a great freedom, a great openness to the future, in Africa. 719 01:11:13,352 --> 01:11:17,397 These are the gifts that the guests bring to the newly-weds. 720 01:11:19,692 --> 01:11:22,610 We are outside the door of the newly-weds' house, 721 01:11:23,487 --> 01:11:26,489 and the guests continue to bring them their gifts, 722 01:11:26,615 --> 01:11:29,575 picturesquely and with great elegance. 723 01:11:55,311 --> 01:11:57,770 Here are useful notes for a conclusion. 724 01:12:00,316 --> 01:12:02,608 The new world is established. 725 01:12:02,735 --> 01:12:06,154 The power to decide its own fate, at least formally, 726 01:12:06,572 --> 01:12:08,448 is in the hands of the people. 727 01:12:08,782 --> 01:12:10,867 The ancient, primordial divinities 728 01:12:11,243 --> 01:12:15,121 co-exist with the new world of reason and freedom. 729 01:12:16,957 --> 01:12:18,583 But how to conclude? 730 01:12:19,501 --> 01:12:22,045 Well, there is no ultimate conclusion. 731 01:12:22,171 --> 01:12:23,796 lt is suspended. 732 01:12:25,382 --> 01:12:30,470 A new nation is born; its problems are infinite. 733 01:12:32,014 --> 01:12:35,558 But problems are not resolved, they are experienced. 734 01:12:36,602 --> 01:12:38,311 And life is slow. 735 01:12:38,979 --> 01:12:41,606 Going towards the future 736 01:12:41,899 --> 01:12:44,359 cannot have its solution in continuity. 737 01:12:46,153 --> 01:12:47,779 The work of a people 738 01:12:48,072 --> 01:12:51,032 knows neither rhetoric nor delay. 739 01:12:52,076 --> 01:12:55,661 Its future is in its fear of the future. 740 01:12:57,247 --> 01:13:00,500 And its fear is a great patience.