I have been in Nouakchott for almost a month now. What has happened since the last update?
All messy on the ZAZA front
Preparations for the Women’s Independence Festival are in full swing. I’ve been working daily (that includes weekends) for the past few weeks on producing the promotional videos for WIF. The process has been unexpectedly slow. In fact, I went to work each day feeling like I could finish the videos the same day – each time it was a bust. Another change here, a little something there, often things outside my scope of responsibility. The communication among each other as well as the flexibility of some partners caused the work to be delayed again and again. This caused resentment among all involved and I had something of a low for the first time during my stay here. Today, the work is finally done and I am waiting for the things to come.
Passport & Punctuality
Unreliability was also a problem away from ZAZA / Assalamalekoum Cultures in the last few days. A music video I was supposed to shoot had to be postponed by a day because my team arrived hours later. An interview could not take place last night, we did it this morning – again due to bad communication and delays. Now, the commitment of my colleagues and partners has not yet led to any serious problems or upsets – Mauritanians are apparently quick to forgive, or we were just lucky. But those problems cannot be ruled out for the future. I’ll be honest: Apart from some gas money, I still don’t give Fatih any real compensation and he continues to do an excellent job in the interviews, but unreliability is also a problem with him. I will follow this development. In addition, my girlfriend who was supposed to visit me here, couldn´t enter the country due to a passport problem and was thus stuck at Nouakchott airport for 24 hours – before flying back to Germany. The stress is now gone, but also the money for flights and hotel. Indeed, there have been a few stressors lately.
Fouchi and Future
Basically, things for my research are going very well. In the meantime, I was able to conduct interviews number 4, 5 and 6, including with a well-known rapper (Boss HMD), who has made a song about the killing of Soufi Ould Cheine. Soufi’s violent death has given my research an unexpected explosiveness and topicality. It is impossible to leave out the topic in interviews. Many other artists have made songs about it as well. I have only heard rumors about why Soufi was killed. But it is quite possible that it has to do with statements he made a few months ago. If there is a red line of freedom of expression in Mauritania, for some powerful people Soufi had crossed it and paid the price. I also met Dezy Dez, a longtime artist and producer (Hero Image).
Change of subject: A week ago, I had a chat with the country’s most famous influencer, Fouchi. We met with Halima in a tent restaurant and talked openly about the Bidhan caste system. It is possible that we will have an interview after the WIF. I’m currently trying to get people outside the hip-hop scene to do interviews. Furthermore, I am now planning for a focus group, which I would like to get either before or after the festival for a debate in front of the camera. 4-5 persons of different background (community, language, age, sex) debating on freedom of speech in Mauritania.
What I have learned so far is this: People talk VERY openly with me about the most controversial topics when the camera is off. Once the camera is turned on, no one has refused to avoid topics, but their choice of words changes. That’s legitimate, it serves their safety, and I don´t think that it affects the research in a negative way. There have been only a few exceptions who have told me that they don’t want to talk about society and politics at all in interviews. But interviews with them haven´t been realized so far.
Tasks to do: to go through the interviews made in the near future to draw the right conclusions. This is the best way for me to plan the final documentary. First ideas already exist.