Fatilou M.

A Story of Participation and Imagination

The project was initiated by hetpaleis and Martha!tentatief, who invited us to create a film that would exist in dialogue with a theater performance. Our mission:

Create a film set in a miniature city.
Collaborate with a school community to make the process participatory.
Bring together theater, cinema, and visual art into one unified and magical experience.

The goal was not only to produce a film, but to activate a whole community.

The story

Fatilou M. is about a modern heroine who decides to make a film with her classmates about their friend.

On stage, two actresses play with the film and the characters inside it. The result is a living dialogue between cinema and theater, a hybrid form where one amplifies the other.

The miniature world for the film was built in collaboration with the Spectrumschool in Deurne, Antwerp. This vocational school became the beating heart of the project.

Students aged 9 to 19 helped construct an entire city: cardboard buildings, wooden schools, tiny garbage bags, newspapers, and even an electrical grid with working streetlights.
Each department of the school contributed according to their skills—woodworking, electricity, mechanics, textiles, and more.
Eight students also stepped in front of the camera, acting in the film itself.

This wasn’t just production design. It was a city built by many hands, full of pride and imagination, brought together on screen.

The process of the city and the film

We had only ten days to shoot a full-length film that would run alongside the live performance. Preparing the sets took six weeks of building and crafting together with the school.

https://remyndow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/WOONKAMER-buildup-2.mp4

The process was intense, but the engagement of the students and teachers made it possible.

Challenges and Creative Solutions

Lighting and Projection

We brought the miniature city to life through a combination of lighting and projection. By projecting skies and simulating daylight, we created the feeling of time passing naturally.

Greenscreen and Live Mapping

Using greenscreen and live mapping software, we placed actors inside the miniature world in real time. Their positions and lighting were adjusted live, so they appeared to truly inhabit the city.

On Stage Interaction

The magic of the project lies in the dialogue between film and stage. Actors timed their lines and movements to blend seamlessly with the film. In some scenes, shadows and projections created entirely new ways of storytelling—blurring reality and illusion into a single stage event.

The Actors

All the film actors were students from the Spectrumschool. Their engagement was essential. Some discovered new confidence during the shoot, one even jumped into the director’s chair to guide a scene…

Their participation wasn’t just symbolic. It shaped the project from the inside out.

Impact and Results

The project received awards and glowing reviews, but the most meaningful result was what happened within the school community.

Students came alive, proud to see their work projected on a big stage.
Teachers saw their students in a new light, discovering hidden talents.
The school itself transformed into a creative hub, buzzing with collective energy.

It felt like a whole city rising together to make something none of us could have created alone!

Credits Play

Actors play: Ahlaam Teghadouini, Prisca-Agnes Nishimwe, Niragire De Groof
Music: Prisca-Agnes Nishimwe, Michiel Van Cleuvenbergen
Text and Scenario: Bart Van Nuffelen
Theater Direction: Bart Van Nuffelen, Fien Leysen

Credits Film:

Film Direction & Artistic Direction: Anthony Nti, Chingiz Karibekov, Remy Ndow
Film Cast: Samira El Azzouti Aberkan, Fathi Hasan Mohammed, Marcelrita Makdonald, Najma Mustaf Mohamed, Manon Proost, Elizabeth Sucacueze, Jayh With, Roxiha Urban Llanchelian
Youth Acting Coach: Soufiane Chilah
Film Set Construction: Students and teachers of Spectrumschool Deurne
Director of Photography: Stefan Van Diest, Diren Agbaba
Sound: Vincent Struelens, Bob Hermans, Patrick Romain
Costume: Wim Muyllaert, Nushi Lambreva
Lighting Design: Tim Clement
Lighting Technician: Steven Brys

Dramaturgy: Silke De Bruyne, Jenne Van Daele
Research: Bart Van Nuffelen, Prisca-Agnes Nishimwe
Script & Direction Coach: Johan Petit
Text Corrections: Students of 7th year auto-electricity, Spectrumschool Deurne
Set Execution: Elke and Bruno, Danny Havermans
Production Management: Jenne Van Daele
Technical Production Management: Evelien Vanden Boer
Educational Guidance: Noriko Beyens, Silke De Bruyne
Production & Technical Realisation: hetpaleis, Martha!tentatief