Documentary and animated fictionEquatorial Guinea, France, 90 minutes

French, Spanish, Languages from Equatorial Guinea and Mauritania

HD Colour and 2D Animation

Conceived by Ivanne Girard and Tatúm BanerjeeAnimation artist Ramon Esono Ebalé

Written and directed by Tatúm Banerjee

BIOKO ISLANDNot really Africa

AMBASSADE DE FRANCEGUINÉE EQUATORIALE

THE PROJECT* Synopsis

* Chronicle: Picture hunting

* Director’s Statement

* Technical Note

Image, Sound, Animation and Narrative Structure, Music

THE CREATORS * The Story of an Island - Ivanne Girard, Associate Producer

* Ramon Esono, Animation artist

* Tatúm Banerjee, Director

* Letters of support

THE STORIES (with illustrated ideas for animation)

* Josefa

* Paciencia

* Candelaria

* Desmali and Pepe

* Aude

* The Imam

* Campo Yaounde

* Other scenes

BIOKO ISLAND

Photo credits - Tatúm Banerjee and Francois Merci Njike (video screenshots), Pauline David (behind the scenes).Art - Ramon Esono Ebalé (sample illustrations for animation), Afran (wall painting) All video and photographic images were taken on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, in October 2011. They represent various towns, villages, natural sites and diverse residential areas in the city of Malabo . The photos may not be reproduced without prior permission from Institut Francais, Malabo or Aquiela Producciones Colombia.

“Life is a pigsty, life is beautiful.”

Pepe, chauffeur, philosopher, Character in Bioko Island

THE PROJECT

* Synopsis

* Chronicle: Picture hunting

* Director’s Statement

* Technical Note Image, Sound, Animation and Narrative Structure, Music

BIOKO ISLAND

THE PRO

JECT / Page 6

SYNOPSIS A lost island off the coast of Cameroon, belonging to Equatorial Guinea. The only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, booming with change since the discovery of petrol.

Seven people on the island. From different social backgrounds and with different life-stories. There is a sulky teenager, an assiduous schoolteacher and a righteous imam from Mauritania. There is a philosophising chauffeur, a strong-willed singer and a God-fearing nun from Paraguay. And also a rich French girl who likes fine living.

Over one month, a camera crew accompanies these seven characters in their daily lives. Only direction given - to perform their chores normally, as if the camera weren’t there.

2D animation sequences will be added on to these documentary video takes. The real-life stories recounted by the characters will be illustrated and animated, placing the final work on the border between documentary and animated fiction.

For the first time in the African cinema landsape, Bioko Island presents a half-real and half-imagined account of Equatorial Guinea - a virtually unknown country with immense cinematographical possibilities.

THE PRO

JECT / Page 7

1

“I need your eyes.”

One fine day my old friend Ivanne pops up in my e-mail. “Come to Equatorial Guinea”, says she. “We’re gonna make a film.”

Equatorial Guinea?

Internet searches and a few library visits gave me a rough idea. I learnt that Equatorial Guinea was not all the same as Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, New Guinea or French Guinea. This was another country - the capital Malabo was on a far-off island called Bioko, and the rest of the country was in Central Africa bordering Cameroon and Gabon. Equatorial Guinea also had other small islands, one of which was called Annobon. The country had been colonised first by the Portuguese and then by the Spanish. I learnt that this was the only country in Africa where Spanish was officially spoken besides local languages like Bubi and Fang.

It appeared that the President was a certain Mr Obiang, a gentleman who seemingly controlled the nation. Obiang’s family reportedly possessed luxury flats in Paris and was accused of siphoning off hundreds of millions of dollars from public funds. But shhhhh....

CHRONICLEPicture hunting

THE PRO

JECT / Page 8

THE PRO

JECT / Page 8

I read a book published by Obiang, in which I came across photographs of smiling Equatorial Guineans, discovered a dreamlike island complete with fabulous animals and modern skyscrapers. I learnt that the recent discovery of petrol in the country had engendered a virtual pilgrimage from the West - Americans and French leading this ‘oil rush’ with ties around their necks, smiles on their faces, and briefcases on their fingertips.

I spoke to a few rare people who had actually visited the island as tourists. They made me a list of places to see and suggested local specialties to savour. About Equatorial Guineans, the opinion was unanimous - “It’s not really Africa”, they said. “Locals aren’t very friendly.” No matter. A straw hat on my head, mosquito cream in my rucksack and camera slung over my shoulder, I was ready for adventure...

THE PRO

JECT / Page 9

Chronicle

2

My friend Ivanne was the Director of the French Cultural Institute in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea’s capital. This was the film’s initial financer.

In the beginning, the idea was vague - to create “portraits” of Equatorial Guineans. The idea matured gradually, and we decided to ‘follow’ the daily lives of a few people - to go to their houses early in the morning and then just accompany them in their usual activities.

Ivanne had thought of certain people for these portraits. I thought first of going to meet them, explain the project, establish a workplan, do some research before shooting...

Easier said than done. When I arrived in Equatorial Guinea, I realised that apart from Ivanne, people were hardly interested in the film. Most of them looked on me rather like a musician on tour, like the majority of artists visiting Malabo. And musicians are supposed to play, sing and move on...

Also, I was supposed to make a film on Equatorial Guinea, but could not leave the insular island of Bioko.

Pepe, the chauffeur/philosopher who was supposed to be film’s main character was mostly unavailable. When he was available, he was quite difficult to deal with. I was thus alone on unknown territory, scantily paid and meagrely lodged, and was expected to make a film which required a professional crew.

How absurd it all was !

THE PRO

JECT / Page 10

Chronicle

THE PRO

JECT / Page 10

Then came Francis from Cameroon, smiling like a child. He was eager to help and to learn anything he could. He became my assistant cameraman, and also a friend.

There was Cariño, a hefty dancer, meek as a lamb. He became my sound engineer.

Pastor, a small-built actor with big ambitions, started derushing the video at the end of each day.

And, of course, there was Ivanne, who believed in me. Without her efforts, this project would never have seen the light. Bioko, in fact, is really her film, born out of of her imagination and her experiences of which I am but a humble chronicler.

THE PRO

JECT / Page 11

Chronicle

3

We started selecting the protagonists, all residents on Bioko Island. Some were chosen by chance, some by instinct, and others by default. My job was to transform these people into characters.

After a few intense days where I trained my amateur crew, shooting began. The idea was to film our characters living their daily lives. I wanted to keep myself at a distance, and not plunge in; keep myself from imposing a ‘journalistic’ point of view. I felt I did not have the right to judge a country and a people I hardly knew anything about.

The task was not easy. Adam, an Equatorial Guinean from the Muslim community who was to be one of our characters, drifted away. Josefa, an 18 year-old schoolgirl, acted under the authority of her grandmother who wanted to control every aspect of the shoot (even camera placement!). Pepe, chauffeur and handyman by trade, was avoiding us. And Adam’s replacement, the Imam, was always throwing quick, nervous glances at the camera. Other hitch. Malabo, the capital, is a tightly controlled city. At the time of the shoot, Equatorial Guinea was gearing up to host the 2012 African Nations Cup football tournament. For this occasion, the authorities were planning a spectacular show, designed by well-paid Spanish choreographers and sponsored by private French companies. President Obiang was thus extremely keen to show a positive image of his country to the outside world.

THE PRO

JECT / Page 12

Chronicle

THE PRO

JECT / Page 12

Instructions to the omnipresent military were precise - to allow no filming of ‘poor’ neighbourhoods. A German television team, who had the same shooting permit as ourselves, had been deported from the country a few weeks before my arrival. Their fault? Having filmed “raggedy” kids. Now the majority of our characters lived in Campo Yaounde (also known as Nioubili), the most dilapidated neighbourhood in Malabo. How could we ever manage to get away with filming in that area?

Also, to create a balance between the film’s characters, we decided to include Aude, a French expatriate in Malabo. We thought initially that this would bring out the ‘wealthier’ side of Equatorial Guinea, thus refuting the critique that I was only ‘filming poverty’. But the contrast brought out a dimension which I had not foreseen. Aude was enthusiastic and cooperative, but the footage of her life in Malabo seemed absurdly out of place with the images of the Equatorial Guineans in poor areas - almost like that of a princess in a castle who ignores the masses! And I had absolutely no intention of falling into the ‘black man good white man evil’ trap...

Thankfully, we had the very enriching participation of Paciencia, a schoolteacher, Candelaria, a missionary nun from Paraguay and Desmali, a singer. Their cooperation gave us the force to carry on and created a reasonable aesthetic balance between the characters.

THE PRO

JECT / Page 13

Chronicle

4

As the days went by, things started to fall into place. After a while, the people became used to my presence. Francis, Cariño and Pastor, my improvised crew, compensated their amateurism by hard work and a real desire to learn.

We also managed to film in the ‘poor’ areas without excessive interference from the police. That fact that we were concentrating on people, and not filming the general situation in dilapidated neighbourboods was to our advantage. In the end, the characters we were filming became our real licence to shoot. They went about in a way that their neighbours and entourage were at ease with the presence of a camera.

Finally, the characters who were difficult to film at first became more accepting and open, and the shooting passed off fine.

Apart from following the characters, we also set out to discover Bioko by ourselves. The camera went traipsing through the picturesque villages of Batete, Rebola and Baney, hiked the mountains in Moka (one of the most rainy regions in the world) and had a good time at a concert at Playa Blanca, a popular public beach.

The same camera actually stayed back at Malabo. The French Cultural Centre bought it from me before my departure. I can only wish the device as many beautiful walks and ‘hunts’ (as my assistant Francis liked to call film shoots) that I have had the privilege to witness on the picturesque island.

THE PRO

JECT / Page 14

Chronicle

5 There is a lot left before the film can be finished. The images that have been shot need colour correction. And a whole second part of the film needs to be completed before the final release.

We intend to create animated sequences sketched by Ramon Esono Ebalé (Equatorial Guinean artist exiled in Paraguay). These illustrations will be brought to life by an Animation Director. Through these sequences, we aim to fill a void in the film which our shooting, based on the ‘real’, has left out. Ramon will imagine the seven characters in his manner, thus bringing in an eighth perception of this unknown island and taking the project into the world of animated fiction.

Once, when we were filming in Campo Yaounde - a place where cameras are prohibited - a drunken policeman accosted us and started shouting - “You’re gonna take these images to Sarkozy’s country and sell them! You’re gonna say that president Obiang does not treat his people well!”

If he had any knowledge of the colossal task that remains between the shoot and the ‘sale’ of our film, he would have certainly been more sympathetic !

THE PRO

JECT / Page 15

Chronicle

1

I am not a fan of documentaries in general. Especially documentaries where overenthusiastic Westerners visit what they call ‘developing’ countries and gush “Look at these people living in these primitive conditions! They eat wheat cereal and fish for food and their music represents some ancient harvest prayer from the fifteenth century. How fascinating!”.

Neither do I like documentaries where the objective is to instruct or propagate an opinion - I prefer reading when I want to be instructed.

In cinema, I am only interested in people and their stories, and especially in the visual style in which these stories are told. With utmost respect to the documentary form, fiction remains my first passion.

But is fiction not born from reality? Is there not a story, novel or poem in every ‘real’ person, action and object? There’s the rub...

In the case of Bioko Island there was no money nor time for fiction, and a documentary was a choice by default. Nevertheless, true to my artistic preferences, my objective became to place this documentary on the borders of fiction. Hence the insistence for an animated part where, through the fascinating universe of Ramon Ebalé, we will enter the realm of pure imagination where the ‘real’ stories will become animated fantasy.

It is this animated part that, in the end, expresses my personal vision as a film director. I am fascinated by all that falls between the ‘real’ and the ‘imaginary’. For I believe that life itself is a coexistence between imagination and reality, fantasy and fact, dream and waking, death and living.

DIRECtOR’S StAtEmENtTH

E PROJECT

/ Page 16

2 When I was asked to direct ‘portraits’ of people who lived on an island I knew nothing about, I was quite anxious. How could I direct a film in Africa without previously having set foot on the continent?

Then I thought of my diverse travels around the world for my contemporary art work (digitally modified photographs). I had often been in very particular, even absurd situations, where I had always tried to situate myself as a passive spectator. To let the action come towards me, rather than frame an image with a predetermined objective. To observe without judging, to constantly keep a mindset that learns rather than criticises.

Before leaving for Equatorial Guinea, I had imagined a treatment where the camera would move away from the action, becoming an ‘observer’ rather than a participant. A little like one may watch a street fight from the drawing room window...

I have tried to be faithful to this passive perception that tries not to judge, but simply underlines the visual beauty of what passes. Whether it be in the muddy lanes of the Nioubili slums or in the comfort of the luxurious apartments where Western expatriates live, this ‘observer’s’ stance has pervaded the entire length of the shooting process.

I looked, on one hand to take large shots, simply letting the camera roll from a vantage point away from the action. On the other hand, I tried to capture the beauty of the elements inside the frame with fluid close-ups. It was as if the camera was a paintbrush with which I was caressing the beautiful faces in front of me. Problems during the Equatorial Guinea shoot were diverse, ranging from the people’s reticence to be filmed to the lack of technical expertise and work discipline. Most of the time, the people looked at me with mistrust in their eyes, as a foreigner who had come to steal images of the poor.

Amidst these conditions, I resolved with steely determination to carry on shooting till it was time to catch the plane back. And when I got on the plane, I realised that the journey had just begun.

THE PRO

JECT / Page 17

Director’s Statem

ent

tECHNICAL NOtE

ImageThe images have been shot with a SONY NEX VG 10 camera, in

AVCHD format.

The video falls into three categories:

The people: These are shots where we follow the seven people in their daily activities. The characters never address the camera or the spectator directly.

We thus accompany the teenage Josefa to school, where she tries to concentrate amidst the chaos created by her noisy classmates. Paciencia takes us to a rehearsal of her Bubi language church choir. The singer Desmali invites us to breakfast in his hut in Campo Yaounde. We are even present at a yoga class, where French expatriate Aude gets together with other foreign women in Malabo.

These ‘character-centric’ shots have been mostly taken with a monopod (no steadycam material is available in Bioko) and on a tripod. The character is always the main subject of the shot, as the intention is to see through his or her eyes.

THE PRO

JECT / Page 18

The island: These are neutral shots where the camera ‘observes’ Bioko island. The places filmed here are not directly related to the characters’ daily routines. We have rather sought to go there on our own, wanting to discover Bioko Island in our manner. The pictures taken are diverse - shots of nature (forest, sea), travelling shots from a car where we observe Bioko island pass before our eyes, scenes of popular life in public marketplaces, villages, etc...

There are also some ‘experimental’ and abstract shots - travelling shots from a car window with very high shutter speed. The effect obtained is as if we were looking at images shot on Super 8mm.

In the final edit, all these aforementioned scenes are to serve as transitions between sequences, as if the island was a character in itself. Animated figures will also be superposed on these shots, making the transitions between the real and animated parts smoother.

The wall painTing Travelling shoTs: These shots are the only ones that have been stylistically ‘directed’, so to speak. We placed all the seven characters from the film before a wall-painting (a work by Afran, artist from Equatorial Guinea) and then we executed a lateral travelling shot on the wall.

This is to be the final shot of the film. In a mise en scène that combines illustration and real photography, all the characters will be presented ‘at the same level’.

THE PRO

JECT / Page 19

Technical note (Image)

Sound

Direct sound: shot with a lapel microphone, an omnidirectional mike on boom and also with the internal microphone of the camera.

Ambient sound: A Sony Zoom recorder captured ambient sound during the shoot. There are also sound takes without video, recorded at night in certain areas where bringing in a camera would have been dangerous.

Audio interviews: In one-on-one interviews, the characters introduce themselves, tell us about their lives, express their opinions and talk about incidents that have deeply affected them. I wanted these interviews to be recorded only on audio, as this adds an intimate aspect to the ‘realness’ of the pictures.

These audio interviews will be the basis for the animated part of the film. For example, in ‘real’ video, we shall see the Imam from Campo Yaounde going to the mosque to pray, visiting his friends with whom he shares sweetmeats, selling clothes at the marketplace... In addition to these documentary scenes, we shall see his audio interview depicted in animation - how, as a young man before becoming an imam, he left Mauritania on a boat during a war, how he travelled all around Africa before settling on Bioko Island.

THE PRO

JECT / Page 20

Technical note

Animation and narrative structure

To add narrative cohesion to the elements, it is planned to work with Ramon Esono Ebale, illustrator from Equatorial Guinea. His vividly graphical illustrations will weave together the ‘documentary’ video into a structured story, and, at the same time, reveal his vision of Bioko as an exiled Equatorial Guinean in Paraguay.

The idea is to create simple but graphically rich 2D animation with basic backgrounds, somewhat inspired by Japanese maestro Mizoyaki. There shall also be scenes where animated sequences will be superposed on ‘real’ sequences, creating a world where ‘documentary’ and ‘fiction’ come together.

The main narrative link shall be created by the presence of a CARTOON MAN, an animated character who shall be omnipresent in the film. The Cartoon Man will attend school with Josefa, appear as an angel in church beside Candelaria, even plunder and loot Annobon Island with drunken military officers as Desmali and Pepe stand by in shock. This character appears like a spirit, indifferent to the notions of ‘good’ or ‘evil’, sometimes creating comic relief, and, at other times, reinforcing the horror of certain situations.

The Cartoon Man will thus be a tool to smoothly transit between characters and situations. At times, he will also symbolise the artistic ‘voices’ of the animation artist and/or the film director.

(See attached screenplay for further details)

THE PRO

JECT / Page 21

Technical note

THE PRO

JECT / Page 22

Technical note

music

It has been planned to work with local artists in the city of Malabo, in collaboration with the French Cultural Institute in the city. Songs will be composed specifically for the film. The artists will be chosen from the album ‘Musik’à Bioko’, an album produced by the French Institute in 2011.

Diverse musical styles shall be present in the film. The singer Desmali’s participation has already provided folk music from the island of Annobon. Paciencia, another character, has brought in sacred music during the scenes where her Bubi language church choir performs on stage.

Other contemporary musical styles from Bioko shall also be used - hip-hop and reggae in particular.

THE CREATORS

* The Story of an Island - Yvanne Girard, Associate Producer, Institut Français, Malabo

* Ramon Esono Ebalé, Animation artist

* Tatúm Banerjee, Director

* Letters of support - translations (Ambassador and Cultural Attaché of France in Equatorial Guinea, Institut Français)

* Original letters of support in French.

BIOKO ISLAND

THE CREA

TORS

/ Page 25

How does one recount an experience? How can one tell the tale of an island?

For over two years, I have been on a diplomatic mission in Malabo, and I wanted a film director to film my daily reality. By daily reality, I mean the small details of people and the environments that can hardly be expressed through words. I wanted this project to bring the island of Bioko out of its insularity and be observed through outside eyes - those of a film director, and then of a foreign audience with varied mindsets.

The generally perceived image of this island is restrictive - petrol, an authoritarian regime, corruption, an erstwhile Spanish colony. Can one really go further? You need pictures to feed your imagination.

tHE StORY Of AN ISLANDIvanne Girard, Associate Producer, Institut français

Ivanne GIRARD is the Director of the French Cultural Centre in Malabo since 2009. She has previously worked in the same insititution in N’Djamena, Chad, from 2006 - 2008. A native of the French town Tours, Ivanne studied Cultural Management and Communication, and has had professional experiences in many Spanish-speaking developing countries before coming to Equatorial Guinea.

So how does one film Bioko differently? I thought of this idea of a mosaic of characters, for, in my opinion, the richness of any travel experience lies in meeting people and discovering their singularities. I think that these portraits have succeeded in bringing out a more sensitive and intimate reality of Bioko, as compared to the general perception that most people have.

For the portraits, I wanted to suggest at first a subjective array of locals who ‘generate positive energy’. But in the end, we ended up choosing people from socially diverse backgrounds, without the objective of representing an exhaustive cross-section. Come with us, then, on a trip to Bioko, an unknown island a half hour’s flight away from Douala in Cameroon. I do not personally know the people that have been filmed, but I know that they were willing to reveal themselves to the director’s questions and his tenacious presence.

On Bioko island, people are extremely reserved, and breaking the ice is not easy. This is the first tour de force of Tatúm Banerjee - to be able to coerce himself into the private lives of these people. His second achievement is having succeeded in going to neighbourhoods and territories that have never before been explored by a camera. Bioko has an exasperating tendency to only show what glitters on the television screen.

Cinema is not practised on the island of Bioko, and the director’s third tour de force is that he was able to shoot the film virtually alone, without a professional crew and in record-breaking time (just about a month).

Associate Producer - Ivanne G

irard - Institut FrançaisTH

E CREATO

RS / Page 26

Associate Producer - Ivanne G

irard - Institut FrançaisTH

E CREATO

RS / Page 26

The project takes on the form of a play of perceptions, as I asked the director (who did not know much about Africa before coming here) to come and ‘observe’ through his camera.

In the final narrative, a similar ‘observational’ stance will be presented in a radically different manner - through the pencil of Ramon Esono Ebalé, illustrator and comic-book artist. A native of Equatorial Guinea, Ramon has been living for more than a year in Paraguay.

Ramon will see the footage, listen to the interviews and create a new representation of the film’s seven characters. The director will then work with an Animation Director to transform these illustrations into 2D animation sequences.

The seven people filmed do not necessarily have a link between them, it is through the illustrations of Ramon that a narrative connection is to be established.

Through each character’s microcosmic world, we smell Bioko’s air and come into contact with the island’s natural elements - the sun, the mud, the rain, the muggy humidity... We open our eyes to see a world that is wronged, manhandled, but firm in its uniqueness.

THE CREA

TORS

/ Page 27A

ssociate Producer - Ivanne Girard - Institut Français

ANImAtION ARtISt

Ramon Esono

Ebalé

"The purity of the Bioko Island project is that it does not seek to create a story - the stories speak for themselves. My work as an artist is closely connected with political criticism, and I feel that the stories in this project need to be transmitted to future generations so that they do not make the same mistakes.

The stories that the characters relate are extremely personal and vividly emotional. In fact, they resemble life-stories that could have taken place in any other part of the world.

Take the story of Desmali, for example. I see him as an artist capable of surviving atrocities by using his genius. In the absence of wind instruments on his island, Desmali starts off by playing ‘trumpet’ with papaya leaves (something I did as a child as well). These personal details move me. I identify with the characters and their tales, as I know Equatorial Guinea very well and have been to the places that the protagonists decribe.

And finally, I believe in the film. When many people put their dreams together in this sort of project, aimed to educate, to make bonds, to emphasise personal and human defiance as a modus operandi, we go beyond established norm. I hope that our

collective efforts for Bioko Island may bear fruit."

THE CREA

TORS

/ Page 28

THE CREA

TORS

/ Page 28

Ramon Esono Ebalé Ramón Nsé Esono Ebalé, illustrator from Equatorial Guinea, was born on November 22, 1977. He has worked for the French Cultural Centre in Malabo, and has collaborated with various international and African organisations like UNICEF, AFRICAN UNION and TAMBOO AFRICA.

Ramon is the creator of LOCOStv, a critical blog against the dictatorship of Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The images may be seen on the Facebook support group for Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, Equatorial Guinean political activist.

Currently exiled in Paraguay, Ramon is collaborating with EGJustice for the soon-to-be-released comic book “OBI’S NIGHTMARE”

Ramon’s work may be seen on www.jamonyqueso.info

Anim

ation Artist

THE CREA

TORS

/ Page 29

Selected worksYULISA - Story in Comic Global, with the patronage of the Progressist Women’s Federation (FMP) in Spain to fight violence against women. April 2008

STOP AIDS - Creator of “Stop Aids”, campaign for creating awareness for the Guinean Youth. Patronage by PNUD, UNICEF and the Ministry of Health. Three issues in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

CATALINA Y MIGUEL - Children’s comic book with UNICEF, edited and published in Spain. 2007

LE REVEIL D’AYOKO - First prize in the Cocobulles International Festival (Marfil Coast). March 2006.

VOTEZ, ENCORE ET ENCORE - First prize in the International African and Mediterranean Festival (Italy). September 2006.

LE PLAN B - Second prize in the International Festival of Angouleme (France) - January 2006.

PARAJAKA - Illustrator and creator of the first African comic book on the Internet. 2006-2007.

BITO, BOLI Y MUSTAPHA - Illustrator and creator of the first children’s comic book in Equatorial Guinea. Edited and published by the Spanish and French Cultural centres. 1990.

Film director and journalist, Tatúm Banerjee was born and brought up in the city of Calcutta in India, where, at a young age, he frequented theatre and film circles. After studying English Literature and Cinema, Tatúm emigrated to France, where he graduated in Cinema and New Media. Tatúm lived and worked for eleven years in Paris, notably as a journalist at the international television channel France 24, and as a professor of Cinema and New Media at the Sorbonne. As a journalist, he has covered important film festivals in Europe (Cannes, Berlin, Venice) before starting to develop his own cinema and modern art projects.

Since 2010, Tatúm has been working with partners in France, India and Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Argentina). An avid traveller, Tatúm speaks five languages. He is currently based between Paris and the city of Cali in Colombia.

tHE DIRECtORtatúm Banerjee

THE CREA

TORS

/ Page 30

tatúm BanerjeeProjects

2012-2013: Adentro (in production). The first fiction feature in Colombia shot inside a women’s prison, with the inmates as actresses and technical crew. Supported in Colombia by the Ministry of Justice, the Embassy of France and the Embassy of india. 2011-2012: ‘Expreso Oriente’: Fusion music projet with Indian and Colombian rythms.

2011: Kolkata Symphony: Experimental video shot in India

2010: Entity: Contemporary Art Exhibition (France, Latin America)

2009: N’éteignez pas les lumières: short film script (France)

2007 - 2009: News reports as a member of the permanent staff at France 24, international news channel. (France Télévisions)

2006: Le Passage: Experimental fusion music project (Brazilian and Indian rythms)

2004: A Star is Born - Short film on 16mm, France. (Best Film: International student Short Film Festival, Paris 2004; Grand Prix, Sorbonne Film Festival 2004; Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival 2005; Cannes Short Film Corner 2005)

2000 - 2003: residence and cultural coordination at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris. Creation of TCI, film production unit. Creation of a theatre group, tour in Tunisia. Selected for Je mange la cuisine, contemporary art exhibition in Paris.

1995 - 2000: Theatre projects in Kolkata, India - Collaboration with cultural centres of foreign embassies (Alliance Française, United States Information Service, British Council, Goethe Institut). Conception and direction of two theatre shows. Performed with the theatre group The Actors Company, collaborated with The Action Players (theatre group for the hearing impaired)

Director

THE CREA

TORS

/ Page 31

Malabo 27 February 2012

In October 2011, the French Institute in Malabo invited the French filmmaker Arnab Tatúm Banerjee to direct a feature-length film called Bioko Island, which is a series of portraits of people living on the island of Bioko.

Given the artistic quality of the project, the Embassy of France in Equatorial Guinea supports the film project.

I also vouch for the seriousness and professionalism of Mr Banerjee

This is valid for whom it may concern

Gilles MareekCultural Attaché

Director of Institut FrançaisEmbassy of France in Equatorial Guinea.

____________________________________________________________________________

Malabo, February 25, 2012

Letter of recommendation for the documentary project “Bioko Isand”

Sir, Madam

Director of the French Cultural Institute since September 2009, I wanted to invite the filmmaker Arnab Banerjee for this sensitive project that we initiated together. Arnab Banerjee’s way of perceiving things seemed to be very well adapted to the reality of this unknown and singular island which was crying out out to be filmed !

The idea of a mosaic of characters will allow the exploration of different lives that are lived in this restrictive space. The drawings of Ramon Esono Ebalé, talented illustrator from Equatorial Guinea (currently resident in Paraguay) will air out these portraits. The presence of animation in this documentary is indispensable and indissociable from the video shot by Arnab Banerjee in October 2011. The director of the film will continue to follow this illustrator in exile, transforming him to an eighth character in the project.

Through these trips in individual microcosms, we will be able to see a reality through other means than that of corruption, illegally acquired assets, petrol and five star hotels. Arnab Banerjee brings out that which gives life, that which makes sense to the residents of this island. Elements that perturb, surprise, and never leave one indifferent.

I hope you will entrust your faith in this promising director as well as in the artistic quality of this project - a humourous and delicate invitation to the island of Bioko.

Ivanne Girard

translations of reference letters

Letter of recommendation in favour of Ms Ivanne Girard, Director of the French Cultural Centre in Malabo.Malabo 20 April 2011

Since september 2009, Ivanne Girard heads the French Cultural Insitute in Malabo, after having worked in the same institution in Ndjamena, Chad, as a Cultural Project Manager from December 2006 to December 2008.

Ms Girard is very young for this responsibility - she is just 30 years of age. Nevertheless, she has quickly adapted herself to her position. Her action as the French Cultural Centre’s head has strongly enhanced the linguistic and cultural activities of the establishment, and has also improved its visibility greatly. Since she took over, the number of partnerships with private companies went up to 17, French language students increased by 25% and support for local artistic talent developed strongly.

To achieve these results, Ms Girard has to her advantage her high-level academic degree in Cultural Management and Communication, and also a short but varied experience in Spanish-speaking developing countries. Apart from her mission in Chad, she has also worked as a Theatre Development Manager in Bolivia.

But her positive results are mostly due to her various qualities:

- A strong ability to adapt and relate to the complex context of Equatorial Guinea, small Spanish-Speaking country in Central Africa going through an economic boom because of its petroleum resources, but still a long way behind in sociocultural development.

- Complete availability and a great sense of team organisation at the Malabo centre as well at the new centre in Bata, located on the continental part of the country.

- Effective human relation skills in her dealings with national francophone authorities, Spanish cultural cooperation authorities and with the private sector.

- A constant desire for perfection, with willingness to reply positively to different proposals. This refers, in particular to the renovation of the centre’s premises in 2011.

- A great capacity for analysis and initiative. This, added to her subtle capacities in the cultural domain and her oral and written communication skills, allows her to carry through new projects and reinforce the positive influence of our cultural centre.

Ms Girard has thus distinguished herself as a reliable and efficient collaborator for the Embassy for the development of French culture, which is one of the priorities in this country.

I congratulate Ms Girard for all of her capacities that she has demonstrated in her current mission in Equatorial Guinea, and recommend her for future functions in the cultural domain in the general sense, both in the Foreign Affairs Ministry as a Director of a French Institute, as well as in public and private institutions.

Guy SerieysAmbassador of France to Equatorial Guinea

translations of reference letters

THE STORIES (with ideas for animation by Ramon

Esono Ebalé)* Josefa

* Paciencia

* Candelaria

* Desmali and Pepe

* Aude

* The Imam

* Campo Yaounde

* Other scenes

BIOKO ISLAND

THE STO

RIES / Page 38

Josefa, 18-year old schoolgirl , lives with her half-brother and grandparents in the Campo Yoaunde slum. Her mother has left for Spain, leaving Josefa and her brother in the hands of a very authoritarian grandmother. When she is not in school, Josefa spends her time at home, sometimes working in the local bar that her grandmother owns. Suffocated by her grandmother’s authority, Josefa clings on to her little brother, her only ‘real’ family. Her dream? To leave this neighbourhood where hoodlums hang about, to leave Equatorial Guinea, and go to France for her higher studies.

scenes shoT

- Before school, Josefa revises her lessons.- Josefa on her way to school- The day at school - a class on Equatorial Guinea’s geography, then the lunch break.- Back from school, she watches television.- She works in her grandmother’s bar and plays with her little half-brother while people around her get inebriated.

JOSEfA“Here, it’s not good to talk about politics if

you’re not a politician.”

THE STO

RIES / Page 39

Josefa - video

THE STO

RIES / Page 40

Josefa

THE STO

RIES / Page 41

Josefa

THE STO

RIES / Page 42

“We were coming back from a bus excursion. We started going downhill, the bus was not moving well. People started praying, others started shouting insults. A girl got sick and started vomiting. Five minutes later, the bus overturned and we all fell. I was one of the first to fall, and I fell with my arm behind me. My hand hurt and I stayed there. Then the other people people started falling on top of the people who had fallen first..

“The man who was driving was a foreigner from Guinea Conakry. He ran away and we never saw him again. Many people died. But there was a man who was sitting with the driver in front - he had no legs. Nothing happened to him. Not a scratch!...

“Where I live, there are many hoodlums, many savages. A lot of violence, a lot of alcohol, and a total lack of respect.”

JOSEfA Animation

THE STO

RIES / Page 43

Josefa

THE STO

RIES / Page 44

Josefa

THE STO

RIES / Page 45

Josefa

THE STO

RIES / Page 46

40-odd years old, bursting with energy. Paciencia is a single mother, and works non-stop to support her two daughters - one of whom lives on the island with her, and the other in Spain. Paciencia’s passion is the Bubi language of her native tribe. She teaches Bubi in primary school, and also keeps the language alive through the songs in her church choir.

SCENES SHOT

- Paciencia starts her day by doing the washing. She finishes breakfast, then winds her way through the alleys in her neighbourhood to reach the primary school where she works. - In school, Paciencia conducts morning assembly, then enters class. The lesson for the day is the story of Pinocchio.- Back from school, Paciencia cooks lunch, then sets up a large table outside her house where she puts out different items for sale.- In the evening, Paciencia rehearses with her choir in a church- Dressed in traditional Bubi costume, she performs a concert with her choir.

PACIENCIA“We all need other people’s help.”

THE STO

RIES / Page 47

Paciencia

THE STO

RIES / Page 48

Paciencia

THE STO

RIES / Page 49

Paciencia

THE STO

RIES / Page 50

Paciencia

THE STO

RIES / Page 51

“I had an operation. The doctor made a mistake. They did not know what to do with me so I was sent to Spain. They operated again, said ‘Paciencia, we have not found out what you have, but you have a lot of liquid inside you.’ ”

“I stayed on and on - test after test after test after test.. Over a month of tests, then a urologist comes and says.. during your operation in Equatorial Guinea, they cut your ureter by mistake and that’s blocked.

“I am a single mother with two daughters. The elder one - her father and I separated. This one here - her father left me when she was two months old. He went to work in Gabon and never came back. My work can help my children. I make a lot of sacrifices to take care of them. I try to bring in my contribution everytime the need arises. That’s the essence of life.”

PACIENCIAAnimation

THE STO

RIES / Page 52

Paciencia

THE STO

RIES / Page 53

Paciencia

THE STO

RIES / Page 54

Candelaria, catholic nun from Paraguay, stays in the pretty village of Batete where she runs a missionary school. Candelaria is simple in her views, happy to be beside the children who are often abandoned by their parents. Besides her work in school, she tends to an organic plantation farm with the children. Church, farming, children and nature - a missionary nun’s life with no frills.

SCENES SHOT

- Candelaria at work at her missionary school in the village of Batete.- Candelaria working on the plantation farm with the children and farm workers- With her fellow sisters and the schoolchildren, she attends mass.- Candelaria comes to Malabo to buy groceries

CANDELARIA“most people do not know how to enjoy what

they already have. “

THE STO

RIES / Page 55

Candelaria

THE STO

RIES / Page 56

Candelaria

THE STO

RIES / Page 57

“You need to know how to live wherever you’ve got to live. If today, I had to live in a castle, I got to be happy in the castle. If I have to live in a shack, I have to be happy in that shack.

“We had a girl here a couple of years ago - she had nobody. Her mother had died, she did not have any brothers, no father. After her mother’s death, an aunt appeared out of nowhere and took her away. But the girl was not happy living with her aunt.

“The girl escaped from her house and came back here. I noticed in her face that something very strange had happened. ‘I’ve escaped’, she said.

“And then little girls who became pregnant and have to fight not to have an abortion... these are things that make you mature as a person.”

CANDELARIAAnimation

THE STO

RIES / Page 58

Candelaria

THE STO

RIES / Page 59

Candelaria

THE STO

RIES / Page 60

Inseparable friends from the island of Annobon - a lost and unknown island belonging to Equatorial Guinea. Desmali is a singer proud of his art. He affirms with ease that he is the most well-known musician in the country. He lives as he can, taking care of his large family, braving each day as it comes with quick wit and an active mind.

His friend Pepe is very different - clever and hard-working, he plays the philosopher disillusioned with life. He works as a chauffeur for the French Embassy in Equatorial Guinea. When Pepe is not at the wheel, he distributes water in poor areas with his friend Desmali. He is also Desmali’s ‘agent’, and organises concerts in popular neighbourhoods.

SCENES SHOT

Desmali

- Early in the morning, Desmali goes to buy bread as the children get ready for school. - He presides over family breakfast, guitar in hand.- He walks around his neighbourhood, visits his sister and his friend Felix.- Pepe and Desmali set off in a car with a tank of water. They fill the empty containers of people who have no running water.- Desmali performs in a concert at a popular bar.

Pepe

- Pepe goes to a five-star hotel to run an errand for his employer- Pepe visits his family domain, where, on overgrown land, he hopes one day to open his own cultural centre.- Pepe lunches with his friends on a traditional fish soup, reknowned as a remedy against hangovers.

DESmALI AND PEPE

“You got to fight to give life a natural feeling” - Desmali

THE STO

RIES / Page 61

Desm

ali

THE STO

RIES / Page 62

Desm

ali

THE STO

RIES / Page 63

Desm

ali and Pepe

THE STO

RIES / Page 64

“Bad times, but a smiling face. That’s how we lived when we were kids....

“The fortune-teller on the island said that there would be a ‘ship of misfortune’ that would come. And the next day, a ship did come. Military soldiers got off. The chief made a speech and the people clapped.. ‘Don’t worry. We come in peace’, they said. All right then.

“Evening came, they asked everybody to dance - and dance, and dance and then everybody got scared, because they were out on the streets with guns. The people did not want to come out and dance. And that was when it started. People started running away, but the officials started to hold back the women, rape them. They beat up the men just for fun...

“Take life as it comes. You need to fight to keep what you get daily. No point in thinking up big projects if they’re going to fall back on you later on.”

DESmALIAnimation

THE STO

RIES / Page 65

Desm

ali

THE STO

RIES / Page 66

Desm

ali

THE STO

RIES / Page 67

“Looking at the sea, we saw a boat far away. I said to my friend - ‘Look at that boat! Why not go and ask them for something - soap or clothes’. ‘All right’, said my friend. So we took a kayak and started to row. We started at eleven in the morning and finally reached the boat at five. They gave us five litres of water, two trousers, two shirts, and then said ‘you better row back now to get to shore’.

“After an hour of rowing, my friend tells me - ‘Look at that shark that’s passing by’. ‘What shark?’ I ask. Night was falling. I looked and saw a monstrous beast - its body was white below, with, many, many spines, and its back was blue. Its tail was like a submarine.

“The shark went past, and we saw it coming by again. It went below our kayak and started hitting it. When he stopped, the kayak was full of water. We started crying, and there was no one to save us. And this shark was trying to make the kayak overturn so that we could fall into the sea and die..

“Everything we eat finishes, everything we wear, tears, everything we use gets old. And our resources, our riches will come to an end too one day.”

PEPE - Animation “You don’t know when you came into this world.

And you cannot know when you’ll get out”.

Pepe

THE STO

RIES / Page 68

Pepe

THE STO

RIES / Page 69

Pepe

THE STO

RIES / Page 70

Pepe

THE STO

RIES / Page 71

Aude, a rich French industrialist’s wife. Aude and her husband Cédrick live at a distance from the harsh reality of Equatorial Guinea. Her life is taken up by her work, her yoga, her salsa classes and cooking - her passion. Aude is a regular at luxury hotels and fancy bars, where she hobnobs with Equatorial Guinea’s elite.

SCENES SHOT

- Aude in a yoga class with other foreign expatriate women.- At work, she sells mobile phones for French telephone company Orange.- Aude lunches in a fancy restaurant with three Equatorial Guinean colleagues.- Aude at a salsa and aerobic class after work.- Aude prepares and sets out dinner for her husband and herself.- Aude takes care of her cat, who suffers from a swollen eye.- She takes off her make-up at the end of the day.

Aude“A European and an African have different

things to worry about from day to day.”

THE STO

RIES / Page 72

Aude

THE STO

RIES / Page 73

Aude

THE STO

RIES / Page 74

Aude

THE STO

RIES / Page 75

“Africans have a sense of community. They need to be surrounded by their family, their friends, whether they be from Guinea, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon - they all live in community, so that’s something very reassuring - the family cocoon...

“We’re far away from what we’ve been used to, really very far. In the end, wherever it may be - Africa, Asia, or wherever - it was an opportunity, and so we took it, just like that.

“One realise that things... that we finally have a goal.. that we work.. And that if we keep a positive attitude, we’ll attain our goal. That’s my way of looking at things..

“But I’m scared of solitude.. Indifference. Solitude scares me.”

AUDEAnimation

Aude

THE STO

RIES / Page 76

Aude

THE STO

RIES / Page 77

Aude

THE STO

RIES / Page 78

Aude

THE STO

RIES / Page 79

Aude

THE STO

RIES / Page 80

The imam of the Nioubili area mosque (Campo Yaounde) is the leader of a small Muslim minority in Malabo. An immigrant from Mauritania, the imam’s life alternates between the central market where he owns a clothes stall, and his sermons at the mosque. He sometimes gets together with his Mauritanian friends in his brother’s house, where they all pray and share a meal.

SCENES SHOT

- The imam at the market, selling clothes- Evening sermon at the mosque- Friday prayer, children and adult Muslims fill the streets. The imam enters the packed mosque and preaches his sermon- In front of the mosque, prayers on the street in the rain. - In the market, the imam puts away his things, then visits his brother’s house where they pray and share sweetmeats.

tHE ImAm“Live as you were going to live eternally, treat

death as if you were going to die tomorrow.”

THE STO

RIES / Page 81

The Imam

THE STO

RIES / Page 82

The Imam

THE STO

RIES / Page 83

The Imam

THE STO

RIES / Page 84

“It was when there were problems between the negro-Mauritanians and the Arab Mauritanians that I left Mauritania. I was in Senegal for two years, then I went to Libya, Tunisia - just for adventure. But I really wanted to leave for Europe. But since I did not have the means to go there, I went back to Mauritania to get married, and then I heard about this country, Equatorial Guinea. So I went across Ivory Coast, Niger, Cameroon, and now here I am.

“In the Sahel, the land I left, you are free, night and day, to move about when you want, to sleep where you want, to walk where you want without any problems. Here, well, it’s one of the newer countries going through a petrol boom, but the people aren’t free. There are certain people who just want to hassle you.”

tHE ImAmAnimation

The Imam

THE STO

RIES / Page 85

The Imam

THE STO

RIES / Page 86

The Imam

THE STO

RIES / Page 87

Four out of seven characters (Desmali, Josefa, the Imam and Paciencia) live in Campo Yaounde, Malabo’s most populated, dirty and violent shantytown. The slum takes its name from the first immigrants from Cameroon who settled here. They rebaptised the area ‘Nioubili’ at the time.

This ‘favela’ on Bioko Island is an institution of its own. Here, there is little difference between neighbour and family. Without running water or sanitation, each day is a challenge for the majority of the slum residents, who stick together through tough times. Most of the residents in Campo Yonde are short of money and unemployed. Alcoholism runs high, and in many families, beer and cheap red wine are brought out at breakfast.

At the time of shooting, Equatorial Guinea was on a strong campaign to polish up its image for the international community. The country was to host the African Nations Cup in early 2012, and was working hard to show very ‘modern’ pictures to the West. But these images of sparkling Equatorial Guinea do not feature Campo Yaounde, where the police have strict orders not to let cameras in.

Not only have we managed to film Campo Yaounde, but our cameras have entered the private lives of the residents there, bringing out the visual poetry of the shantytown rather than its dilapidatedness.

CAmPO YAOUNDE

THE STO

RIES / Page 88

Campo Yaounde

THE STO

RIES / Page 89

- Dance rehearsals for the African Nations Cup- Nature - sea, forest, landscapes- Life in the cities of Rebola, Baney and Luba- General shots of Malabo (travelling shots taken from a car, scenes from the marketplace)- ‘Directed’ travelling shots of the seven protagonists in front of a wall painting - Experimental and abstract shots

OtHER SCENES

THE STO

RIES / Page 90

Other scenes

BIOKO ISLANDCredits

Ivanne GirardAssociate Producer - Institut Français, Equatorial GuineaJulie BorgerProducer - Aquíelà Producciones, ColombiaRamon Esono EbaléCo-Producer, Locos TV, ParaguayAlex Singer, Mathieu MullierCo-Producers, Kafard Films, France

Francois Merci Njike - Assistant CameraPastor Tobachi - Editorial assistant

Heriberto Ndong - Technical assistantPauline David - Cultural coordinator - Institut FrançaisGilbert Bousson - Accountant

Thanks to

Our seven characters (Paciencia, Pepe, Aude, Josefa, Candelaria, Desmali and the Nioubili mosque Imam) The Embassy of France in Equatorial GuineaGilles Maarek, Cultural Attaché for FranceInsitut Français MalaboKevin NinkeuJulie BorgerScenicCédrick Meyrand, Marine Utgé-Royo, Vincent Olivier, Annaëlle Brun

conceived by ivanne girard and Tatúm Banerjeeanimation artist ramon esono ebalé

also featuring art by afranwritten and directed by Tatúm Banerjee