39
In video games, through my collaboration with our pioneer and Knight of the Legion, Muriel TRAMIS, on her upcoming game * Remembrance: The Golden Jars of La Pelée * I deliberately chose an Afro-Creole positioning, in territory where everything was still to be built and very few people believed it was possible. Prince Serge Guézo was working to rebuild bridges between Afro-descendants and the African continent, particularly with Benin— the homeland of many people deported during the slave trade who ended up in the French Antilles. He was convinced that cinema was my path, long before I was. He was right, and I regret that he is no longer here to see it. The common thread is illuminating what has been erased, minimized, denied. Whether in video games, cinema, or through my associative work, with AJU- CA( Association of Young Overseas French Citizens for Film and Audiovisual Media), of which I am now interim co-president alongside Orana Larthomas it is always about making visible what has been rendered invisible. What projects do you want to build going forward— a documentary series on color, identity, and memory? And if you could say something to the young Mélissandre of her first films, what would you tell her?
First, I want to develop a feature-length version of LAPO CHAPÉ, incorporating additional historical material and themes not yet explored around skin color. Beyond that, I have the ambition of a documentary series spanning multiple continents, exploring this question on a global scale— which will of course require greater resources. To the young Mélissandre, I would say: you worked hard, and I am proud of you. At the time of my dissertation, I was tormented by questions of mixed heritage and racial identity that had a profound impact within my family. It took me a long time to clear that ground— in my mind and in my body— because we inherit not what is said, but what was lived and felt by our ancestors. I am speaking here of cellular memory and psychogenealogy, two dimensions I wanted to integrate into the film and that I feel are still too little explored. Even before making LAPO CHAPÉ, I had managed to resolve family issues deeply rooted in these very questions. I am proud to have perhaps released certain pains that existed within my lineage. Both my parents were able to see the film on the big screen. My father saw it on March 11th at the Paris’ Anim center in the 19th arrondissement— very close to where I grew up. For me, that meant everything.
The archive of Melissandre ancestor, freed in 1948, named MONNATUS
39
Flashmag! Edition 171 Avril 2026