This past Saturday French-Senegalese actress and director, Mati Diop, made history as the first Black woman to win an award at Cannes Film Festival in its 72-year history.
Diop won the Grand Prix award for her first feature film ‘Atlantique’. The award, which is the equivalent of a silver prize, is the second most prestigious of the festival, after the Palme d’Or.
When Diop made headlines for making history for being the first Black woman with a film in the festival’s competition section, she expressed how overdue the feat was.
”I knew it as I obviously don’t know any Black women who came here before. I knew it but it’s always a reminder that so much work needs to be done still.”
The Cannes Film Festival is considered to be the largest film festival in the world. This year’s event lasted 11 days and wrapped on May 25th.
Congratulations Mati!