Filmmaker Ramatu‑Toulaye Sy Highlights Women's Role at Czech Film School

Senegalese‑French director and screenwriter Ramatu‑Toulaye Sy addressed students at the Summer Film School in Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic, on July 26, 2026. She spoke about the position of women in contemporary society, citing the works of Elena Ferrante as an inspiration for exploring female friendship and empowerment.

Sy, who grew up on the Paris suburbs to parents from northern Senegal, studied literature before training as a screenwriter at La Fémis in Paris. Her diploma project became the feature film *Banel and Adam*, which was selected for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. She emphasized the need for African cinema to tell universal love stories and to move beyond stereotypical portrayals of war, poverty, and violence, aiming to show that Africans can love and live diverse lives like people everywhere.