Indélébile

Indélébile is the very first film project conceived by director Francky Tohouegnon. A film buff and regular viewer of the TV5 Monde channel, he discovered the world of entertainment through television and developed a particular interest in contemporary dance, which fascinated and intrigued him.  He wanted to understand what was at stake in this form of dance, which was resolutely different from the traditional and ceremonial dances of which his Beninese culture is so rich. He looked around him, but in the 2020s, contemporary dance was still confidential in Benin. It is sometimes regarded as ‘karate’. Francky Tohouegnon began filming rehearsals and work sessions at the Walo Dance Centre, a choreographic centre located in a working-class neighbourhood in Calavi, north of Cotonou. He also filmed performances at the Institut Français in Cotonou, accumulating a wealth of dance footage over three years. The result was a documentary that he reworked several times until the final 26-minute version was released in December 2023. Since then, Indélébile has won international awards (Prix Canal+ at Fifdopo, etc.) in Colombia, Benin, Burkina-Faso, Mali, etc. Purchased by TV5 Monde France, it is available on the TV5 Monde + platform.

After this first production on dance, Francky Tohouegnon is preparing a drama on contemporary dance entitled Ultime danse.

Source: Interview with Francky Tohouegnon, by Anne Décoret-Ahiha, 10 May 2024, Cotonou (Benin)

This video was registered thanks to the support of the Institut Français, the Metropole de Lyon and the City of Lyon as part of the 2023 – 2024 project “Development of a digital resource on African choreographic creation and a tool for artistic training, art criticism and cultural mediation in Benin and Togo” led by Dr Anne Décoret-Ahiha.