On the occasion of the documentary writing and creation residency Talents du Fleuve, held in Saint-Louis, Senegal, Visual Exchange supported a group of emerging young filmmakers through a process of research and creation rooted in direct cinema.

During the residency, participants explored their ideas, points of view and documentary intentions based on the social, cultural and ecological realities that shape their lives. The accompaniment relied on our approach and training module Sensory & Embodied Techniques in Direct Cinema.

Through practical exercises and experimental dispositifs, the residents were invited to physically experience the fundamentals of cinematic language — distance, framing, rhythm, light and gaze — by mobilising the body, the senses and emotions as tools for understanding and creation. This approach fosters the emergence of sensitive and embodied documentary writings, accessible to participants from diverse backgrounds and levels of experience.

The Talents du Fleuve residency thus forms part of the continuity of Visual Exchange’s actions aimed at empowering young people and developing visual and audiovisual practices in the service of social impact, rooted in territories and lived realities. The first sketches resulting from this collective work were shared locally during the Saint-Louis International Cinema & Photography Salon, extending the dialogue between documentary creation and audiences. These short films will also be screened on other occasions and distributed by our local partner, the organisation carrying the initiative, the Écran du Fleuve Collective in Saint-Louis.

A valuable opportunity to celebrate emerging talents and to nurture local representations of the social, cultural and ecological realities of the region !

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