The cultural organization Polygreen Culture & Art Initiative (PCAI) and the Serpentine organized on Tuesday, April 25, the Greek premiere of the environmental film “A letter from Yeni” (“A letter form Yene”) by the acclaimed artist, director and academic Manthia Diawara. Diawara’s film is commissioned by PCAI, Serpentine and MUBI under the programme Back to Earth by Serpentine.

The film was screened in the packed auditorium of the Vassilis & Elizas Goulandris Foundation, in the presence of distinguished guests from Greece and abroad. Greetings were addressed by the founder of Polygreen and PCAI, Athanasios Polychronopoulos, the artistic director of Serpentine, Hans Ulrich Obrist, the artistic director of PCAI, Kika Kyriakakou, and Fleurette Karadontis, president of the Board of Directors. of the B&E Goulandris Foundation. After the audience’s prolonged applause, the screening was followed by a discussion with Manthia Diawara and Hans Ulrich Obrist. During its duration the audience had the opportunity to delve into the central concepts and environmental and social concerns behind the creation of the film, and to learn more about the artist’s wider work and his collaboration with the important Caribbean writer and philosopher Edouard Glissant.

The film “A letter form Yene” was created through Diawara’s conversations with the local community of the Senegalese coastal town where the artist often resides. In recent decades, coastal erosion and uncontrolled urbanization have dominated the traditional settlement of fishermen and farmers of Yeni. Through daily encounters with fishermen and pebble collectors, Diawara explores how their lives collectively and unknowingly contribute to the degradation of the environment they share in common. “A letter form Yene” unfolds like a letter to the viewer, where the filmmaker, also holding the role of narrator, shares a critical environmental message of global scope.

After the successful premiere of the film, a second screening is planned at the B&E Goulandris Foundation on Friday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m with tickets already on sale.

Manthia Diawara

Manthia Diawara (born 1953) is a writer, director, cultural theorist, scholar and art historian. He is a professor at New York University and director of the Institute of African American Affairs. Part of his research is in cultural studies around black communities, although his work differs from the traditional approach that took place in Britain in the early 1980s. Along with other scholars, Diawara sought to incorporate consideration of the conditions African American livelihoods to create a broader context for the study of the African diaspora and culture.