At Ngay Ngay, a vil­lage in north­ern Sene­gal, there are real nat­ural evap­o­ra­tive basins in which depend­ing on the year large or small quan­ti­ties of sea salt dry out.

Located 15 kilo­me­tres from Saint-Louis, the vil­lage is liv­ing around a com­plex com­mu­nity organ­i­sa­tion: men divide the salt fields into plots, and women are those who har­vest. In the end, the men receive a share of the crop, while women are those who took great pains over the harvesting.

I am fas­ci­nated by the work of these women, their ges­tures and their abil­ity to exploit this nat­ural resource with the most rudi­men­tary means in such harsh con­di­tions. By observ­ing the cul­ture of salt har­vest­ing in this small vil­lage, I can­not help but see, yet again, a rela­tion of the dom­i­nant vs dom­i­nated between men and women, as it so often hap­pens in our cul­tures. In this vil­lage, women are the king­pins of the busi­ness, and can be exploited by their own husbands.

2012, Documentary - France / Senegal, 52min

Written and directed by Ndéye Souna DIEYE