‘The Cemetery of Cinema’ Review: A Don Quixotian Documentary Expedition to Find a Long-Lost Film
variety.comMurtada Elfadl Movies have always thrived on the power of nostalgia, of viewers placing themselves in a historical context and seeing that self represented on screen — and this is just some of what Guinean filmmaker Thierno Souleymane Diallo explores in his debut feature “The Cemetery of Cinema.” Ostensibly the story of a quest to find a lost film — “Mouramani,” made in 1953 by Diallo’s compatriot Mamadou Touré — this documentary becomes both a playful meditation on why films matter and a rather sober examination of how history can be lost when not preserved.
Diallo’s command of the thin line between absurdity and profundity makes it both an entertaining and contemplative watch. No one is even sure what “Mouramani” is about — only that it’s the first film ever made by a Black French-speaking director who was a pioneer of the form in that region of the world, and whose work should be fully preserved and exhibited in repertory.
Stories vary about the film: Some claim it’s about the Islamizalization of the Malinke people, others that it’s a simple story about a man and his dog.
Many in Guinea know of it, but no one has seen it. Is it real or just a myth? Driven by a love of both cinema and his country’s history, Diallo sets out on a quest to find the film, or at least someone who has seen it.
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