The young men leave by sea and do not return. Then, at night, the women of their neighbourhood begin to behave strangely, as if possessed. Atlantics, Mati Diop’s first feature, is a ghost story about migration and unpaid labour, set on the edge of Dakar. In 2019 it won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
Mati Diop
Mati Diop is a French-Senegalese filmmaker and actress. She is the niece of Djibril Diop Mambéty, one of the great figures of African cinema, director of Touki Bouki. Before Atlantics, she made short films and documentaries, including an earlier short also called Atlantiques.
The story
Ada, a young woman in Dakar, is promised to a wealthy man but loves Souleiman, a construction worker. Souleiman and his co-workers, unpaid for months on a luxury tower, leave by boat for Spain. After they disappear, strange things begin to happen in the neighbourhood, and the women become the vessels for the men’s demands.
Migration
The film draws on the reality of young West Africans risking their lives to reach Europe by sea. Diop wanted to tell the story from the perspective of those left behind, especially women, rather than only following the migrants.
Cannes history
Atlantics premiered in competition at Cannes in May 2019. Diop was described as the first Black woman to have a film in competition for the Palme d’Or. The film won the Grand Prix, the festival’s second-highest award.
Netflix
Netflix acquired worldwide rights to the film, excluding some territories, after its Cannes premiere. It was released in cinemas and on the platform in November 2019, reaching a global audience.
Oscar submission
Senegal selected Atlantics as its official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 92nd Academy Awards.
The look
The film’s cinematography, by Claire Mathon, captures Dakar’s ocean, its unfinished towers and its night streets with a haunting, dreamy quality.
After Atlantics
Diop’s next feature, the documentary Dahomey, about the return of looted artworks from France to Benin, won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2024.
Many films about migration show the boats. Atlantics shows the empty rooms, the waiting women and the ghosts of men who were never paid for building a tower they would never live in.
