African Film Archive

Atlantiques

2009 — Mati Diop — France, Senegal

short · documentary · festival-era

Shot on a Dakar beach where young men talk through the risk of a pirogue crossing to Spain, Mati Diop's short documentary won the Tiger Award for Short Films at Rotterdam in 2010 and became a direct precursor to her 2019 feature Atlantics.

Fun fact: Diop returned to the same subject a decade later in Atlantics, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2019, making her the first Black woman to compete for the Palme d'Or.

Notes: Listed as a Franco-Senegalese production across sources. Award specified as the Tiger Award for Short Films, 2010 edition, rather than an unqualified Tiger Award.

Verification: verified · Sources: [1] [2] [3]

Poster source: Criterion Collection