Maud Martin

Thierno Souleymane Diallo sets out with his camera in search of the birth of filmmaking in Guinea. Charming and determined, he traces his country’s film heritage and history and reveals the importance of film archives.

“Four unaligned rows, 37 faces turned towards the camera lens. Autumn 1958, a family of Breton peasants in their Sunday best, gathered around the eldest. Smartly dressed for the photo. A modest living honestly earned by laborious work”. This is what the narrator proclaims at the beginning of the film, leading us to see things through his eyes. The photo, taken on the occasion of the golden wedding anniversary of the director’s grandparents, is the catalyst of Ordinary Landscape and the symbol of a way of life that is now gone.

My name is Gabriel and I live in Taipei. I have lost my wife during an assault. A red-haired man came to me, he smelt of fried fish. He had a gun and he shot my family. Since, I feel empty as if I had a hole in the head.