Un dessert pour Constance
by Sarah Maldoror
Sunday, March 31, 2:00PM
61 mins, French with English subtitles
$15 general admission / $7 reduced price (your choice)
TICKETS
Co-presented with the
Maysles Documentary Center
343 Malcolm X Boulevard
New York, NY 10027
take the 2/3 train or Metro North to 125th Street
The Broodthaers Society of America and the Maysles Documentary Center are pleased to screen part II of our nuanced look at the films of Sarah Maldoror (1929-2020), particularly their relationship to the idea of "words as objects." Where our previous screening looked at three Maldoror films about poetry, Un dessert pour Constance hinges on a more lighthearted relationship to language: whether two immigrant street sweepers employed by the city of Paris can win a television game show about French cooking to pay for a fellow worker's trip back home. The film is based on Maurice Pons’ adaptation of a short story by French writer Daniel Boulanger and was co-produced by Antenne 2 and Top Films.
Un dessert pour Constance is rooted in the camaraderie of African civil servants and the dignity they bring to their work. Even under the withering instruction of their boss Monsieur Broccart—played to petit bourgeois perfection by Jean Bouise—no one has ever swept the Parisian gutters with the enthusiasm of Bokolo and Mamadou. On their lunch breaks, they prepare for their fateful day by cramming their heads with the minutiae of la cuisine française.
Un dessert pour Constance is exceptional in Sarah Maldoror's oeuvre not only in that it is a comedy but also in that it was made with a substantial budget for television. Rather than shy away from TV work as demeaning or degrading, Maldoror saw it as a well-funded chance to express her politics through different means. We might even say that, with Un dessert pour Constance, Maldoror paid her respects to the genre by scripting a breezy story, all the while inserting her wry, insightful, rapier wit about the African immigrant experience.
This co-presentation of Un dessert pour Constance is part of Words as Objects, a year-long series of exhibitions and events in honor of Marcel Broodthaers' centenary and his commitment to the materiality of language.
Annouchka de Andrade and her sister Henda Ducados have developed the Association of Friends of Sarah & Mario to preserve and share the work of their parents Sarah Maldoror and Mario de Andrade, two individuals who fought for African independence and cultural emancipation. Crucial to their work is the restoration of films and the archiving of all documents, correspondences, manuscripts, and unrealized screenplays left behind by their parents. Previously, Annouchka has been the Artistic Director of International Film Festival of Amiens, a festival focused on auteurs' cinema and African and South American films. With over thirty years of experience, Annouchka has worked in international cultural cooperation with a strong focus on audiovisuals, cultural heritage, and production in France, Spain, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador. She provided technical assistance to Sarah Maldoror for twenty years.
Sunday, March 31, 2:00PM
61 mins, French with English subtitles
$15 general admission / $7 reduced price (your choice)
TICKETS
Co-presented with the
Maysles Documentary Center
343 Malcolm X Boulevard
New York, NY 10027
take the 2/3 train or Metro North to 125th Street
The Broodthaers Society of America and the Maysles Documentary Center are pleased to screen part II of our nuanced look at the films of Sarah Maldoror (1929-2020), particularly their relationship to the idea of "words as objects." Where our previous screening looked at three Maldoror films about poetry, Un dessert pour Constance hinges on a more lighthearted relationship to language: whether two immigrant street sweepers employed by the city of Paris can win a television game show about French cooking to pay for a fellow worker's trip back home. The film is based on Maurice Pons’ adaptation of a short story by French writer Daniel Boulanger and was co-produced by Antenne 2 and Top Films.
Un dessert pour Constance is rooted in the camaraderie of African civil servants and the dignity they bring to their work. Even under the withering instruction of their boss Monsieur Broccart—played to petit bourgeois perfection by Jean Bouise—no one has ever swept the Parisian gutters with the enthusiasm of Bokolo and Mamadou. On their lunch breaks, they prepare for their fateful day by cramming their heads with the minutiae of la cuisine française.
Un dessert pour Constance is exceptional in Sarah Maldoror's oeuvre not only in that it is a comedy but also in that it was made with a substantial budget for television. Rather than shy away from TV work as demeaning or degrading, Maldoror saw it as a well-funded chance to express her politics through different means. We might even say that, with Un dessert pour Constance, Maldoror paid her respects to the genre by scripting a breezy story, all the while inserting her wry, insightful, rapier wit about the African immigrant experience.
This co-presentation of Un dessert pour Constance is part of Words as Objects, a year-long series of exhibitions and events in honor of Marcel Broodthaers' centenary and his commitment to the materiality of language.
Annouchka de Andrade and her sister Henda Ducados have developed the Association of Friends of Sarah & Mario to preserve and share the work of their parents Sarah Maldoror and Mario de Andrade, two individuals who fought for African independence and cultural emancipation. Crucial to their work is the restoration of films and the archiving of all documents, correspondences, manuscripts, and unrealized screenplays left behind by their parents. Previously, Annouchka has been the Artistic Director of International Film Festival of Amiens, a festival focused on auteurs' cinema and African and South American films. With over thirty years of experience, Annouchka has worked in international cultural cooperation with a strong focus on audiovisuals, cultural heritage, and production in France, Spain, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador. She provided technical assistance to Sarah Maldoror for twenty years.