Madubuko Diakité

Madubuko Diakité began his path as a filmmaker in May 1968, as he moved from New York to Paris, a city he quickly left. After a period of travelling in Southern and Central Europe, he made his way to Sweden, where he eventually settled in Lund and began studying at the university. Through his fellow student Navid Raiman, Diakité learned the basics of filmmaking and he then returned to New York for further studies in film.

In New York, Diakité directed Dreams of G, in which his then-wife Elaine Diakité starred as the lead character in a drifting dream portrait on Staten Island. In For Personal Reasons, his second film, Diakité’s own voice merged with a story of a lonely man’s political awakening alongside footage from the Harlem civil rights movement, the Black Panthers and Malcolm X. The film was completed in the early 70s, when Diakité returned to Lund, partly with support from Sveriges Television.

During the 70s and 80s, Diakité made two films with Lund as the point of departure. Det osynliga folket is a unique historical document that draws attention to a series of cases of vulnerability, racism and the fate of immigrants and foreign students in Lund during the 70s. En dag på Mårtenstorget, Diakité produced together with students in a course at Folkuniversitet in Lund which, as the name suggests, follows the daily activities on and around a square in Lund.

All together, Diakité’s short filmography bears witness to an overlooked but significant Swedish-American filmmaker – deeply rooted in social issues and whose production took place outside the confines of industrial filmmaking in the in-between spaces of public service alongside students and friends.

Madubuko Diakité will join the screening to talk more about his work.

Screened:
SAT 29/10, 17:00 FYRIS