Marissa Ramnanan – Local Journalism Initiative
The Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF) celebrated its 22nd anniversary this year with a lineup of 70 films from 21 countries.
Founded by the Fabienne Colas Foundation, the MIBFF is Canada’s largest film festival solely dedicated to telling the stories of people from the African diaspora from all around the globe.
“Each edition of the Montreal International Black Film Festival is an affirmation: our stories matter, our voices matter, and our cinema has a place at the heart of the cultural landscape,” said founder Fabienne Colas.
The five-day festival featured works by world-renowned film directors, actors, and producers, including Oscar-Winning Canadian Director Ben Proudfoot and Executive Producers Michelle & Barack Obama for their film “ The Eyes of Ghana.”
“Cinema does more than reflect the world: it can help transform it. That is why we will continue, with boldness and conviction, to celebrate the richness of Black voices from here and around the world,” said Colas.
One film showcased at the festival is Diya by Chadian film director Achille Ronaimou. The story follows Dane, a driver for an NGO in N’Djamena, the capital of the Central African country Chad. Dane is a quiet and soft-hearted man who is devoted to his work and his pregnant wife, Delphine.
One day, he gets distracted while driving– for just one second, he looks away from the road and at his ringing cell phone. But that short moment changed his life and his family’s life, forever. That brief of distraction was all it took for him to hit a schoolboy who was crossing the street with his friends.
Dane is later told that the young boy died of his injuries, and chaos quickly ensues.
Rather than follow the due process of the Chadian judiciary system, the deceased boy’s family demands hefty financial compensation by claiming “the Diya”, the price of blood.
In the Central African country, the Diya, which is derived from Islamic law, is a traditional Chadian alternative that is sometimes proposed as a way to settle a debt through financial compensation to a victim’s family in cases of accidental death, injury, or severe bodily harm.
Although Chad has its own formal legal system, the Diya can be invoked as a way to avoid inter-communal violence and revenge. However, it can become a source of tension when the two opposing parties of the Diya believe in different faiths— which is the case in this movie. The boy’s family is Muslim, and Dane is Christian, thus he does not prescribe to the Diya, but must pay it anyway.
The film director Achille Ronaimou explained at the screening of his movie that, while the Diya was officially banned and made illegal by the Chad government in 2019, it’s still used in present day.
Ronaimou revealed his film Diya is actually based on a true story.
In the story, Dane’s small Christian community rallies together to give what they can to help him get out of jail. They are able to muster up $1 million Central African CFA francs (XAF) for him to post bail. But it’s nowhere near enough— he still needs another $4 million XAF to pay off the rest of the blood debt.
So, viewers look on helplessly as Dane spirals and desperately sells off everything he owns to pay the Diya. Because if he doesn’t, Dane will be thrown back in jail, and the boy’s family promises to murder Dane’s wife and unborn child to make things even.
Dane’s quest eventually leads him deep in the desert of Northern Chad in an attempt to try to steal the rest of the blood money owed. It’s in this expansive landscape where Dane discovers the truth about the events that upended his life, and is dealt with a hand that challenges who he is at his core— and can change who he is forever.
The film is beautiful, with unexpected twists and turns, giving homage to the importance of family, loyalty and character.
“[These films] highlight and make visible our shared history and humanity, and the vital perspectives, beauty and intelligence expressed through Black lives,” said Jean-François Méan, Chief Programmer of the MIBFF. “It builds and strengthens solidarity, and informs us about who we all are, by raising questions leading to important conversations.”
Film director, screenwriter and producer Achille Ronaimou is an emerging voice of African cinema. Active since the early 2010s, his feature film Diya has received significant international recognition, marking a milestone for Chadian cinema, as he establishes himself as a growing global presence.
While Diya is based on a true story, Ronaimou explained how his film is more pleasant than what happened in real life.
“It’s about redemption,” said director Ronaimou at Cinéma du Musée on Sherbrooke St. West. “It’s a message; it’s a fable that tells the story of forgiveness. What’s most important is the elevation of the story; otherwise we just continue the cycle of violence and hatred”.
The festival ran from Sept 22 to Sept 27. For more information: https://montrealblackfilm.com/en/
