Mati Diop facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mati Diop
Diop in 2024
Born	(1982-06-22) 22 June 1982 (age 43) Paris, France
Occupation	Film director actress screenwriter
Years active	2004–present
Parent(s)	Wasis Diop (father)
Relatives	Djibril Diop Mambéty (uncle)

Mati Diop was born on June 22, 1982. She is a talented French film director and actress. She won a major award called the Grand Prix at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival for her first full-length movie, a supernatural romantic drama called Atlantics.

Later, in 2024, she won the top prize, the Golden Bear, at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival for her second feature film, a documentary named Dahomey. As an actress, she is well-known for her role in the drama film 35 Shots of Rum (2008).

Mati Diop's Early Life

Mati Diop was born in Paris, France. Her father, Wasis Diop, is a musician from Senegal. Her mother, Christine Brossard, buys art and is a photographer. Mati is also the niece of a famous filmmaker, Djibril Diop Mambéty.

When she was growing up, Mati often traveled between France and Senegal. This helped her develop a unique identity that connects both countries.

Mati Diop's Education

Mati Diop studied at a special art school in France called Le Fresnoy National Studio of Contemporary Art. She also trained at the Palais de Tokyo in their experimental artist studio space, Le Pavillon. These experiences helped her develop her skills in filmmaking and art.

Mati Diop's Career Journey

From 2014 to 2015, Mati Diop was a special guest at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. There, she focused on topics like being away from home, identity, memories, and loss. She used both fictional stories and real-life documentary styles in her work.

During her time in a special film program, she wrote the script for her first feature film. It was first called Fire, Next Time, but she later changed the name to Atlantics (2019).

In 2025, Mati Diop started a tour at universities in the U.S. to show her documentary Dahomey. She talked about bringing back cultural items and ending colonial rule. She visited places like Harvard University and Columbia University.

Directing Films

Mati Diop directed her first short film, Last Night, in 2004. Her short film Atlantiques (2009) won an award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. It also won a top prize at the Media City Film Festival when she first visited North America in 2009.

Her documentary short film Mille Soleils came out in 2013. This film was about an actor named Magaye Niang. He was the star of her uncle's famous film Touki Bouki (1973). The documentary showed how he became a farmer years later. The film was shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and later at the Museum of Modern Art in 2014.

In 2019, Mati Diop made history. She became the first Black female director to have her film shown in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Her film, Atlantics, was chosen to compete for the Palme d'Or, which is a very important award. She was one of only four women chosen for the festival that year.

Atlantics was a fictional story based on her 2009 documentary short, Atlantiques. It followed two friends from Senegal who took a dangerous boat trip to Europe. The film won the Grand Prix at Cannes. Netflix later bought the film, but it was not originally made by Netflix.

Diop also directed a documentary called In My Room. This film was part of a series called Women's Tales by Miu Miu. She mixed audio recordings of her grandmother with videos she filmed of herself in her Paris apartment during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.

Mati Diop's films have been shown at many famous festivals. These include the Venice Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, and the BFI London Film Festival.

In 2024, she won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale film festival for her documentary Dahomey. This film is about France returning stolen art to Dahomey, which is now known as Benin.

Acting Roles

Mati Diop started her acting career in Claire Denis' film 35 Shots of Rum (2008). She played the main character, a young woman who had a very close relationship with her father. She found it hard to leave him as she prepared for marriage. She was nominated for an award for her role in this film.

In 2012, she appeared in the film Simon Killer. She also helped create the story for the script. Mati Diop still acts in movies and on television sometimes.

Mati Diop's Artistic Style

In an interview in 2025, Mati Diop talked about how she makes her films. She said it's important to focus on stories from Africa and people of African descent living in other countries. She gets ideas from American underground films. She wants to make movies that truly connect with African and Black audiences.

Mati Diop's work often explores ideas about people moving between countries, immigration, and the experiences of women. It also looks at how past colonial rule affects North Africa and Europe. To make Atlantics, she traveled to Senegal to reconnect with her African roots. She said these trips helped her find her unique voice and understand her French-Senegalese identity. She believes that French and African cultures bring different feelings to her films.

Mati Diop uses a style called magical realism in her films. This means she adds magical or dreamlike elements to real-life stories. Examples include Atlantics (2019), Snow Cannon (2011), and Big in Vietnam (2012). She also uses sets and props to tell her stories, not just characters and talking. Mati Diop often does her own camera work. She is very interested in films that use many cultures and languages, as her movies often feature two or three different languages.

Mati Diop's Filmography

Acting Roles

Filmmaking Work

Awards and Recognitions

Mati Diop has won many awards for her films. Here are some of the most important ones:

See also

In Spanish: Mati Diop para niños