Mariama Khan

Mariama Khan (born 1977) is a Gambian filmmaker, poet, cultural activist and scholar. She teaches African civilization and Women in African Society at Lehman College in New York.

Quotes

• When I was growing up in The Gambia, most of the films I watched were through two primary channels: Senegalese national TV- RTS and home videos. I religiously watched films, movies or soap operas - like Dallas, Dynasty, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, The Cosby Show (all dubbed in French) and Mademoiselle, among a few others shown on RTS at that time. My sister Haddy also made me watch Wollof-language children’s comedy and films on RTS in the evenings. It was also common for me and my other siblings to watch Wollof-language films on RTS. Sometimes, we watched the dubbed non-Senegalese French-language films with our father, who spoke fluent French and our second mother, who also speaks French. After The Gambia established its own television station, we watched films through The Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS). On occasions, too, I watched home videos of films like Problem Child, Sarafina, etc., with my best friend in High School, Rebecca Gomez, at my cousin Lamin Camara (L-boy)’s family home. So, my experiences of “cinema” or productions of the moving image involved socializing with family, friends and neighbors. It also involved taking part in group entertainment, sharing and building relationships. My film-related experiences also inspired my interests in filmmaking and the moving image.
• Yes, I see future developments in cinema in The Gambia. As I stated, already, some of my compatriots including my friend, Prince Sankanou, have been doing great work in the Gambian film sector. They’re all great inspiration for me and I hope to join them soon, following the long hiatus that kept me away from the sector.
• As part of my contribution in the film sector, I will reinitiate some of the projects I need to complete like Fascinala. Additionally, I will explore new projects I wanted to work on before I left The Gambia. I will be delighted to partner with Prince Sankanou to work on a project we’ve discussed about many years ago. In other words, I will work to strengthen the sector.
• I like to think that if I do have any position in the current cinema environment in The Gambia, then that position might be located on the slim fringes of The Gambian film sector. So far, I’ve only produced a few films in the country. This limited number of productions makes my contribution in the sector very modest and less significant compared to the numbers of new drama, feature or documentary films produced by my other compatriots. Most of these new producers have now established a niche as full-time Gambian filmmakers in the country. So, maybe, my place in the current local scene has been overtaken by the new promising productions that are available online and through other means. With that realization, my task as a filmmaker is to refocus and re-initiate my filmmaking career following its long hiatus, which resulted from the lack of grounded-ness in my life and career in the world of exile. In other words, the ups and downs of living a life in exile have stalled my filmmaking career, too.
  • Mariama Khan, filmmaker, poet, cultural activist, scholar: Reflections on cinema culture in The Gambia, retrieved on 20 July 2018