[Cannes press conference for
Banel & Adama (2023)] I come from Senegal; I was born in France but my parents were born in Senegal. I grew up with this culture and tradition. As I mentioned before, it was my thesis at the Fémis school. I always situated my screenplays in France in the past, but I didn't want to do just that. I said to myself, therefore, that I would like to locate my film in a different place, a place that is more me and that I'm very familiar with and the only other place is Futa, where I used to go on holiday with my parents during the school vacations. Writing in these villages in this region, which is pretty desert-like and without electricity.....that was a choice on my part. I wanted the tale to be universal, this tale could happen in the 50s, in the 1800s. For me it was important to be outside time - that's part of the genre and it's part of the story.