Cornélia Glele is a Beninese filmmaker who launched the Cotonou International Film Festival (FIFF) in 2019. It promotes productions made by African women. Recently, the young woman worked on the film The Woman King by Gina Prince-Bythewood. His mission : to help the cast −, carried by Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch and Sheila Atim−, to master Fon, one of the main languages of Benin and that of the Amazons (from the south of the country). The feature film, which evokes their warlike exploits, is pure Hollywood entertainment while being a symbolically just cultural product even if, like all fiction, The Woman King takes some liberties with the story.
Franceinfo Afrique: You are in the credits of the film The Woman King as a consultant in fon. What did your job consist of?
Cornelia Glele : With Carole Lokossou who is a Beninese actress, our role was to teach the fon to the various actresses and actors (a dozen) of the film which was shot during the pandemic. We were doing Zoom meetings all the time, due to one hour each day for each actor. We came back with everyone on their dialogues in fon. We also worked with the team in charge of music to do, for example, translations into Fon or to check that the recordings made sound good in the Fon language.
Is it easy to learn the fon?
Fon is not an easy language to assimilate but we had good students. It is a very fun experience to teach it. We have experienced a lot on this project.
In Benin, The Woman King did not escape controversy of cultural appropriation. The problem is to know who tells the stories of Africans and if they will be able to do it themselves one day, especially in the cinema. What do you think ?
I don’t know if it’s a story that belongs to Africa or specifically to Beninese. I believe that it is also their history, that it is the history of humanity… The slave trade took place all over the coast of the continent: people were deported from Benin and found themselves in America. Is it less the story of an Afro-American than of a Beninese who stayed in Benin? I do not believe. It’s our story to all and each decides to tell it as he feels. In Benin, we are not yet able to do this because we certainly do not have the means. There is a statue today in Benin which represents an Amazon, which means that the Beninese State had the means to erect this monument. Maybe in a few years he can invest in a big production like The Woman King.
You are the director of a Festival dedicated to women in cinema. What inspires you in this cast and this mostly female team in the service of the story of exceptional women?
The film was proposed by a woman (Maria Bello), produced by a woman (Viola Davis), directed by a woman (Gina prince-Bythewood), edited by a woman… I was very proud to be part of all of this because that this film demonstrates that women can give shape to a production hailed today by critics. This means that we are capable of doing anything and it just takes a little willpower. The Woman King is a great experience and I hope it will inspire many women in Benin and in Africa.
What will you be left with?
I learned a lot. I did not know, for example, certain episodes of the history of the Amazons. The scope that the film has today makes the experience unique. Tomorrow, this film will make it possible to locate Benin when I am asked which country I come from, which will save me from explaining that it is a neighbor of Nigeria. However, what I remember above all is the discipline that prevailed during our work sessions. All the actors never stopped training to have the right pronunciation. They are real professionals! We would like to work with this type of people all the time. We don’t always have the opportunity on the African continent.
Of your famous students, who was the best in fon?
Joker (laughs)! I would like to invite them one day to FIFF Cotonou and I hope they will accept my invitation.