Documenting the History of Slavery on Film in Kayes, Mali

Rodet, Marie

Abstract

In 2010 I filmed descendants of formerly enslaved populations in Kayes narrating the history of their ancestors and the realities of internal slavery in West Africa. The result was a 23-minute documentary film entitled “The Diambourou: Slavery and Emancipation in Kayes—Mali,” which was released in 2014. The film was as much responding to specific historiographical questions in the field as a tool of research action to raise awareness among younger generations and to fight legacies of social discrimination today. With the exactions perpetuated against descendants of formerly enslaved populations in the Kayes region since 2018, the film, via its access-free online version, has experienced a second life as an anti-slavery activist medium, helping to bridge the gap between endogenous historical fighting against slavery and contemporary anti-slavery activism in the Soninke diaspora.

Citation

Rodet, M. (2020). Documenting the History of Slavery on Film in Kayes, Mali. Journal of global slavery, 5(1), 89-104. https://doi.org/10.1163/2405836X-00501009

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 6, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Feb 28, 2020
• Publication Date: Feb 28, 2020
• Deposit Date: May 19, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: May 22, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Global Slavery
• Print ISSN: 2405-8351
• Electronic ISSN: 2405-836X
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 89-104
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/2405836X-00501009
• Keywords: slavery, memory, public history, Mali, documentary film, screening, research action, anti-slavery activism