On December 17, 1962, Mamadou Dia, President of the Senegalese Council of Ministers, was arrested and then given a life sentence, accused of a coup d'Etat by his friend and companion Leopold Sedar Senghor. He would be imprisoned with four of his closest ministers. Among them, my uncle Joseph Mbaye, Minister of Rural Economy.
The following day, the Constitution was modified, and the parliamentary system was succeeded by a presidential system, giving Senghor full powers. For 17 years Senghor and Dia had walked together, inseparable and complementary, united in the same ideal for Senegal's development.

Fifty years later, while the presidential campaign of 2012 agitates the country around the values of democracy, actors and witnesses of the events of 1962 take the stand.

Screenplay & Directed by Ousmane William Mbaye

History
In 1945, Leopold Sedar Senghor, leading the younger generation's movement in search of emancipation, enlisted the support of Mamadou Dia, a teacher invested in the struggle against colonial domination, and persuaded him to join his political movement.
Inseparable companions, together they reached all of the determining stages which would carry Senegal from internal autonomy to the Federation of Mali and finally to independence in
1960. Senghor became President of the Republic, and Mamadou Dia President of the Council of Ministers. Power was shared at the highest level of government.
Very quickly, tensions arose and their policies diverged. Senghor, very attached to France, wished to spare the relationship with the West, while Dia wanted to radically abolish the economic system inherited from its former colonial power.
The charm gradually wore off and after 17 years of brotherly complicity, a fratricidal war broke out that would oppose Senghor and Dia in the corridors of the Presidential Palace until the arrest of Mamadou Dia on the 17th of December, 1962.
My uncle, Jean Alfred Diallo, the Chief of Defense Staff and Senghor's ally, arrested both Mamadou Dia and my uncle Joseph Mbaye.

Senegal has never recovered from these traumatic events.
Today, many Senegalese remain persuaded that this alleged coup d'état was actually only a ruse designed to remove Dia from politics.

"We were, however, off to such a good start… we were an example to be followed in all of Africa!" said Mamadou Dia.

Technical & Artistic Credits
Title: PRESIDENT DIA
Category: Documentary - Time : 54 mns -Year of production: August 2012
Format: HDCAM SR / BETA NUM 16/9 ou 4/3 Letterbox - Stereo

Screenplay & Direction: Ousmane William MBAYE
Editing: Laurence ATTALI
Music: Amadou DOUKOURÉ
Picture and Sound: Ousmane William MBAYE- Stéphane de TRÉBONDS - Jacques PAMART - Xavier VAUTHRIN
Mixing: Laurent THOMAS - Calibration : Rémi BERGE

Archives Ina + Senegalese Archives + Private Collections

The actors and witnesses of the events of 1962, in order of appearance:
Mamadou DIA, President Council of Ministers from1956 to 1962
Léopold Sédar SENGHOR, President of the Republic from1960 to1980
Annette MBAYE d'ERNEVILLE, my mother and journalist
Dialo DIOP BLONDIN, SG of RND, co-prisoner of Mamadou DIA from 1972 to 1974
Abdou DIOUF, President of the Republic from 1981 to 2000
Amadou Mahtar MBOW, Member of P.R.A and Minister of Dia from 1957 to 1958
Marie Louise GUEYE, Wife of Doudou Gueye, Militant of RDA
Moustapha NIASSE, Minister of Senghor from 1970 to 1979
Cheikh Hamidou KANE, Writer and Minister of Dia
Roland COLIN, Chief of Staff of Mamadou DIA from 1957 to 1962
Général Alfred DIALLO, General, Head of the Army in 1962

Producers:
AUTOPRODUCTION : Laurence ATTALI
INA : Gérald COLLAS
LES FILMS MAME YANDE : Ousmane William MBAYE

With the Participation of :
TV5MONDE - TVR RENNES 35 BRETAGNE - CFI
OIF : Fonds francophone de production audiovisuelle du Sud
CNC : Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée
PROCIREP, Société des producteurs et ANGOA
CCM : Centre cinématographique Marocain

Distribution Contacts :
Laurence Attali : autoprod@club-internet.fr / 8 rue de Jouy 75004 Paris / +331 43 29 57 37 / +336 81 14 99 78 / Dakar : +221 77 507 77 68
William Mbaye : o.williammbaye@gmail.com Villa 2744 Dieuppeul 3 Dakar / +221 76 680 05 60 / +221 33 825 21 51


© Autoproduction - Ina - Les Films Mame Yandé - 2012