Eva van Tongeren: Femmes d’Agadez (Avant-première)
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Femmes d'Agadez © Eva van Tongeren
We welcome Eva van Tongeren for the avant-première of her new film, Femmes d’Agadez. Last year, she presented us with a program around Les mains qui travaillent, a small cinematic exchange that offered a glimpse into a women’s collective based in Agadez, Niger. Femmes d’Agadez builds on the filmmaker’s encounters with women in Agadez.
Agadez is weighed down by geopolitical interests and the harsh European border policy. Online, Eva van Tongeren met Amina Weira, a Nigerien filmmaker. Together, they searched for a way of filming that would make this cruel policy visible. For six years, they collected images remotely. In early 2023, Eva could finally spent three weeks in Niger. Femmes d’Agadez is the result of these years of exchange, research and resistance.
Eva van Tongeren chooses to present Femmes d’Agadez together with Return of an Adventurer (1966) by Moustapha Alassane, a pioneer of African cinema and one of the few, well-known filmmakers from Niger. Return of an Adventurer is a beautifully shot Western; a sun-drenched dark comedy examining masculinity, macho culture, violence and the glorification of the American film genre.
- In the presence of Eva van Tongeren, the crew and the producers of Animal Tank (Sven Spur and Brecht Van Elslande)
- We offer everyone a Nigerien snack.
Eva van Tongeren
Femmes d’Agadez
Agadez, a desert city in northern Niger, is weighed down by geopolitical interests and the harsh European border policy. The filmmaker weaves testimonies of three courageous women who each, in their own way, try to confront this reality. They speak about their work, their role in the community, and how they put solidarity into practice. Their inspiring stories offer a glimpse of a feminism that is not theoretical, but rooted in everyday life – a feminism that is truly practiced and lived.
Femmes d'Agadez © Eva van Tongeren
Moustapha Alassane
Return of an Adventurer
Back from the US to his village in Niger, a man brings American Western outfits to his close friends, who immediately identify with cowboys. A bloody western begins in the savannah.
Return of an Adventurer © Razak Moustapha, Argos Films
Femmes d'Agadez © Eva van Tongeren