Samantha Biffot: creator of the series Mami Wata

As a creator, screenwriter, and director, the talented Samantha Biffot has more than one string to her bow. On the occasion of the screening of the first episode of her series Mami Wata at CANNESERIES, and in partnership with Le Lab Femmes de Cinéma, Samantha Biffot tells us with passion about her journey, the necessity of telling some stories, and her vision of feminism.

A Gabonese-french director and screenwriter, Samantha Biffot grew up between Asia and Agrica, where she was confronted very early on with a blending of cultures, a theme we can find in her first feature documentary The African who wanted to fly (2016), selected in many festivals and nominated for a Trophée Francophone in 2016.

After graduating from the ESRA Paris, she created a production company in Gabon in 2010 with Pierre-Adrien Ceccaldi: Princesse M Productions. In 2013, she won the award for Best Series at the PFTFO for L’Oeil de la Cité, a coproduction with the Gabonese Institute of Image and Sound. She has been co-writing and directing the African adaptation of the hit series Parents Mode d’Emploi (broadcasted on TV5) since 2016.

She created the series Mami Wata (8x52) in 2021 – original creation by Canal+ Afrique) for which she is showrunner and has directed half of the episodes she co-wrote.

Conversation moderated by Fabienne Silvestre.

Credits: © Pierre-Adrien Ceccaldi