Three times the tour of the filmmakers’ monument and a moment of silence in memory of the departed. If « the dead are not dead », then where are they ?
Filmmakers, actors and actresses, movie industry professionals and the highest authorities for Culture of Burkina Faso and Senegal, Country Guest of Honour, have sacrificed to the traditional libation ceremony.
This ceremony always takes place on the second day of the festival at the filmmakers’ square to pay tribute to departed industry professionals. They are now more physically but they remain in our hearts, in our minds for the dead are in the flowing water, in the blowing wind. This is why they must not be forgotten. This year’s ceremony was quite simple and showed the depth and warm of the deed. During his speech, FEPACI Secretary General Cheick Oumar Sissoko poured water on the ground, a symbol in Africa to pay tribute to the dead. For him, the symbol is as old as the world because for millennia each society has had a specific way of paying tribute to the dead. This is a way of asking the ancestors to welcome our predecessors. He added that the symbol behind the libation ceremony is also show the living that they will always be remembered, and same for their works and images. Hand in hand, filmmakers and professionals from Africa and their peers from other regions of the world toured three times the filmmakers’ monument. A moment of silence was also observed in their memory. The libation ceremony was followed by the unveiling of the statue of Alain Gomis twice winner of the Etalon d’or of FESPACO in 2013 and in 2017. He statue now stands at the Colonne des Etalons (Gallery of the Grand prize winners). The statue was unveiled in the presence of Burkinabe Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism, and the Minister of Culture and Communication of Senegal, Guest of Honour of FESPACO 2021.
Tibiafouba MADIEGA
