Under the guidance of Hassane Kassi Kouyaté, director since January 2019, the "Zébrures d’automne" is one of the major events in the French artistic field with theatre creations (which remain the key theme), dance, music, circus, street arts, but also documentary film, professional meetings, training, debates…

The Institut français is partnering the event, and will be present on several events focused on its actions devoted to supporting Francophone and overseas stages.

Sunday 25 September

• announcement of the “Des mots à la scène” winners, production fund for Francophone contemporary play writing launched by the Institut français with the support of the French Ministry of Culture.
• Presentation of the RFI Théâtre prize to the winner by the jury president, Odile Sankara

The objective of the prize since 2014 has been to promote the wealth of contemporary play writing in Southern Francophone countries and foster the career development of young writers writing in French. This prize continues the commitment RFI and the Institut français makes to writing for the theatre after the success of the public reading cycles organised at the Festival d’Avignon and broadcast on the “Ça va, ça va le monde !” programme since 2013. 

The winning play this year will be read at the Zébrures du printemps 2023.

The writings selected in 2022 are:

• Partir ou pâtir by Cyril Juvenil Assomo (Cameroon)
• Port-au-Prince et sa douce nuit by Gaëlle Bien-Aimé (Haiti)
• Ne t’étonne pas si ma lettre sent le sel by Jocelyn Danga Motty (RDC)
• Je reviendrai avec le vent by Basma El Euchi (Tunisia) 
• Une femme à coudre by Sandra Elong (Cameroon)
• Les ombres sauvages by Djevens Fransaint (Haiti), 2022 winner of the “Visas pour la création” scheme
• Le lac by Djo Kazadi Ngeleka (RDC), Des mots à la scène 2020 winner at Courses au Soleil
• Aomby by Gad Bensalem (Madagascar)
• Collatéral by Fatoumata Sy (Côte d’Ivoire) 
• Les mangeurs de cuivre by Bibatanko (RDC)
• Bizarroïde by Jean Paul Tooh-Tooh (Bénin), 2022 winner of the “Visas pour la création” scheme

Friday 30 September

The Institut français is organising a round table on the theme “distribution and visibility challenges for overseas artists” with those involved in the culture scene of Martinique and Mayotte. In the presence of Bruno Lebouquin, “Culture” officer, Overseas Ministry (France), Nelly Porta, main coordinator of the “Langue française et diversité des cultures francophones” department (French language and Francophone Culture diversity), International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) (France), Christiane Emmanuel, choregrapher (Martinique/Caribbean), L-Had, musician (Mayotte) hosted and coordinated by Madina Regnault, Archipel.eu programme manager.

This year, several creations presented during the festival are supported by the Institut français. La Cargaison by Souleymane Bah and L’Amour telle une cathédrale ensevelie by Guy Régis Junior, winners of “Des Mots à la scène” in 2021, will be presented for the first time in France as well.

• La Cargaison – Souleymane BAH : winner of the RFI Théâtre prize in 2021, Souleymane Bah is directing his play, La Cargaison, inspired by the protest in Conakry in October 2019 when the police shot eleven young men. “In turn, the dead, morgue, cemetery, rifle bullet that killed, hearse and God speak to bear witness to the situation and how these bodies were treated. The opposition wants to make them martyrs and the government wants to cover them up so as not to be seen to be repressive.” With Moussa Doumbouya, Serge Koto.
• L’Amour telle une cathédrale ensevelie – Guy Régis Junior : writer and director, Guy Régis Junior directs a play on exile and departure, telling the stories of families from Haiti that have been separated between Haiti and Canada, Senegal and France. L’amour telle une cathédrale ensevelie questions the numerous departures from a land abandoned for a better one. With Nathalie Vairac, Frédéric Fachena, Dérilon Fils, Déborah-Ménélia Attal, Aurore Ugolin, Jean-Luc Faraux

Three other artists are supported by the Institut français during the festival:

• Jeanne Diama (text) and Assitan Tangara (direction) for the play Tafé Fanga ? Le pouvoir du pagne ?, which questions the place of women in Malian society
• Maher Beauroy and his new work, Insula, which invites us to take a musical journey between the Maghreb and the West Indies and places Frantz Fanon at the centre of his inspiration
• L-Had and “Utende Héritages” which brings together artists from multiple traditions to recount the poetry of and changes in Mahore society

Interview with Souleymane BAH

Portrait of Guy Régis Junior

Portrait of Maher BEAUROY

Portrait of El Had Dhalani