A legendary Black filmmaker chases the ghost of her poet hero through Martinique — and it's gorgeous.
Shortly after his death in 2008, Maldoror made this film about her longtime friend and collaborator, the Négritude poet Aimé Césaire. In this film, she retraces the steps of Césaire’s travels across the globe — particularly back to his hometown in Martinique, where Maldoror interviews his relatives about his life — and her working relationship with Césaire, including fragments of her previous films about him, Un homme, une terre (1976) and Le masque des mots (1987).
Direction
Maldoror's personal lens makes history feel like family.
Editing
Fragments of 30 years of collaboration woven seamlessly.
Director
Sarah Maldoror
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Maldoror was the first woman of color to direct a feature-length film in France (Sambizanga, 1972), making this late-career reflection doubly significant as elder Black feminist cinema.
The title's paternal intimacy — 'Papa' — reveals how Césaire was literally godfather to Maldoror's daughter Annouchka, who appears in the film.
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