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Director Mati Diop discusses Atlantics

An old lover may be reaching out from beyond the grave in Director Mati Diop’s haunting film from Senegal, Atlantics (Atlantique).

Set in the outskirts of Dakar on Senegal’s Atlantic coast, Diop’s film tells the story of Ada (Mame Bineta Sane), a young woman who is in love with a construction worker named Souleiman (Ibrahima Traoré) but is already promised to another man. After Souleiman heads for Spain to seek a better future, he is lost at sea and a devastated Ada prepares to go through with her original wedding plans. But strange things begin to happen that might just thwart those plans.

Director Mati Diop made history as the first black woman ever to compete in the Cannes Film Festival. Atlantics was nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or and took home the Grand Jury Prize. The film is now Senegal’s official entry for Best International Feature for the 92nd Academy Awards.

Following the Eastern Region Special Projects Committee’s Global Cinema Series screening in the DGA’s New York Theater in New York on October 15, Diop discussed the making of Atlantics in a conversation moderated by Director Michael Almereyda (Marjorie Prime). She is also scheduled to discuss the film following the DGA Special Projects Global Cinema screening in Los Angeles on November 19.

Diop’s other directorial works include the documentary feature A Thousand Suns; the documentary short Atlantiques; and the short films Snow Canon, Big in Vietnam and Liberian Boy.

You can listen to Diop's Q&A by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find more DGA podcast episodes here.

Pictures

Event photos by Marcie Revens - Print Courtesy of Netflix

Director Mati Diop speaks about the making of her new supernatural drama, Atlantics, following the Eastern Region Special Projects Committee’s Global Cinema screening in New York.
Mame Bineta Sane as Ada in Director Mati Diop’s Atlantics.
Director Mati Diop (right) and Director Michael Almereyda (moderator) discuss the making of Diop’s new supernatural drama, Atlantics, following the Eastern Region Special Projects Committee’s Global Cinema screening in New York.
Ibrahima Traoré as Souleiman in Director Mati Diop’s Atlantics.
Director Michael Almereyda (moderator) asks Mati Diop a question about the making of Atlantics following the Global Cinema screening in New York.
An image from Director Mati Diop’s Atlantics.
Directors Mati Diop and Michael Almereyda (moderator) pose for a photo following the screening of Diop’s Atlantics in New York.
An image from Director Mati Diop’s Atlantics.
Director Mati Diop chats with members of the DGA New York Theater audience following the screening of her new supernatural drama, Atlantics.

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8/3/2025 - 8/9/2025

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