Mati DIOP

Born 1982 in Paris, France
Based in Paris, France

Film director, actress. Studied at Le Fresnoy – National Studio of Contemporary Arts and at Le Pavillon, a research facility at the Palais de Tokyo. Known for such works as Atlantiques (2009) and Big in Vietnam (2012). Employing effects that are poetic yet at the same time seem to brand colors and sounds on one’s memory, she instinctively blends fiction and non-fiction. Starred in 35 Rhums (35 Shots of Rum) (2008) directed by Claire Denis, a stunning debut that won her acclaim as an actress. Also starred in Simon Killer (2012) directed by Antonio Campos.

Mille Soleils (A Thousand Suns) explores in the form of a captivating portrait of the lead actor Magaye Niang the reality behind Touki Bouki (1973), a legendary African movie directed by the great Senegalese film director and Diop’s uncle, Djibril Diop Mambéty, forty years after it was made. Set in Dakar and Alaska, it portrays Niang as an aged cowboy who has remained in Dakar, recalling his former lover who once dreamed of going to Paris in the movie and roaming about yearning for the vanishing past and the future.