How far travels between several languages, several countries, and works on the superimposition of landscapes and eras.

Suzanne is driving an old Peugeot estate car on the A3 motorway in Seine-Saint-Denis. She stops to check the tyre pressure, the garage is deserted and closed for demolition. A man appears, guarding the place. Images emerge without warning. Suzanne leaves, drives away and returns. Amadi is not always a guard in the Parisian suburbs, he is a young Nigerian filmmaker who has come to explore the archives of Jacques Foccart, De Gaulle's advisor on African affairs, for his documentary on Biafra. As the days go by, they search, accompany each other and invent a little protocol for visiting each other's past. In this outlying building site, landscapes overlap, memories and temporalities flow along a puddle of diesel oil with strange powers that spread over the station. The personal stories of Suzanne and Amadi are interwoven with the broader narrative that links France and Africa - the official as well as the secret history. 

PROCESSUS SPÉCIFIQUE DE CRÉATION
In 2020, I was amazed to discover Laure Bachelier-Mazon's play How farwhich deals with the relationship between France and Nigeria, through a fictional interweaving of history. That same year, I met Kouam Tawa and Hakim Bah; both were quick to say that this play should be produced on the African continent, in Guinea and Cameroon. In 2022, thanks to IETM, I met Jerry Adesewo, who made it possible for the show to be staged in Nigeria.

So, we invented a way of producing and creating this text, by going out and meeting new performers, recreating a fresh team for each production in a different country. At each stage, Laure Bachelier-Mazon rewrote and adapted the text, thinking about how it would be received in communication with the performers. The text has changed because of meetings and discussions, the stage form has been reinvented each time in connection with the performance venue, and the cast has been revised. The scenographic principles created in Guinea were then transported and adapted to each country. The show was performed outdoors in West Africa and adapted for indoors in France. We also thought about the movement of the performers in conjunction with our companies: Brigitte Tsafack, from the Cameroonian company Feugham, created both the Cameroonian and French versions of the show. The sound composition was also adapted to each venue - the singing was a capella outdoors, broadcast indoors, and was also reconsidered at each meeting.
Anne Monfort

The first performance took place in Guinea in October 2023, at the Univers des mots festival, bringing together Camara Bountouraby, Malê Swe Camara, Sira Condé, Mohamed Diané, Pearl Manifold and Marion Sicrewith stage design by Djamounougbè Beavogui and Mohamed Diané and lighting by Iry Armand Bogbé.