Mixing Hollywood : ONOMOllywood

Fotografia : “Il cult movie vede nero”

ONOMOllywood was featured in L’Espresso (Italy) this week. Following is the English translation:

Glocalize is a neologism promoted by the sociologist Bauman to define the adaptation of global products to local markets. With all due respect to Ikea and other planetary brands, the most interesting application of the term comes from the work of two photographers based in Dakar. The Franco-American Antoine Tempé and Omar Victor Diop from Senegaltook fun at reinterpreting in their own way some legendary films, now part of humanity’s global heritage, using only local models. An example of this: Audrey Hepburn/Holly Golightly became a global icon of charm in Breakfast at Tiffany’s thanks to the black evening dress by Givenchy, which is reinterpreted by an equally chic Senegalese model, except that here the sheath dress and long gloves could only possibly be white. One of her colleagues then takes the place of Mena Suvari in American Beauty : Ivorian Beauty has now been floating not on red roses but on the leaves of local plants. The photographers have worked on twenty “iconic” films — not just American— all shot in various hotels of the African chain Onomo (hence the name of the project) for an exhibition that will be on display in Dakar, Abidjan and Libreville (respectively in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon) in the coming months. —Mario Pellizzari

Glocalizzare è un neologismo promosso dal sociologo Bauman per definire l’adattamento di prodotti mondiali ai mercati locali. Con buona pace di Ikea e altri brand planetari, l’applicazione più curiosa del termine viene da questo lavoro di due fotografi basati a Dakar. Il franco-americano Antoine Tempé e il senegalese Omar Victor Diop si sono infatti divertiti a reinterpretare a modo loro alcune mitiche pellicole, ormai patrimonio universale degli umani, utilizzando solo modelle locali. Un esempio su tutti: la Audrey Hepburn/Holly Golightly diventata icona mondiale di charme in Colazione da Tiffany grazie all’abito da sera nero di Givenchy, che viene riletta da una non meno chic modella senegalese, solo che qui il tubino e i lunghi guanti non possono che essere bianchi. Una sua collega prende poi il posto di Mena Suvari in American Beauty diventato ora una Ivorian Beauty che galleggia non su rose rosse ma su foglie di piante locali. I fotografi hanno lavorato su venti film “iconici”, non solo statunitensi, tutti scattati in vari hotel della catena africana Onomo (da qui il nome del progetto) per una mostra che sarà esposta a Dakar, Abidjan e Libreville (rispettivamente in Senegal, Costa d’Avorio e Gabon) nei prossimi mesi.

di Mario Pellizzari

Hollywood film classics with an African twist

BET picking up on the ONOMOllywood buzz today.

Photographers Omar Victor Diop and Antoine Tempé teamed up to give iconic American and French films an African makeover. Shot between Senegal—Diop’s home country—and Côte d’Ivoire, the ONOMOllywood series features local emerging actors and models reinterpreting Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Matrix, American Beauty and other critically acclaimed box-office hits that transcend racial, social and geographical barriers. –Patrice Peck

Hollywood in Afrika

German STERN talking about ONOMOllywood. Below is the English translation:

What would it look like if Hollywood were in Africa? Two photographers have restaged major movie scenes with black actors. Can you guess the correct movie?

The ONOMOllywood photo series is making Hollywood and Africa meet. The photographers, Antoine Tempé and Omar Victor Diop restaged scenes from classic films with black models, in Africa. For both it came like a game with their personal as well as collective memories. Omar Victor says: “growing up watching these movies, I remember playing roles with my friends as a kid, impersonating James Bond as if I was Roger Moore, and running around the house searching spies in my mom’s kitchen…” The project was commissioned by Onomo International, a business hotel chain in Africa.

The scene of the photo [above] is not an easy guess for the younger generation. However this movie is a masterpiece from 1966 and is set in the swinging London . It is about a murder, which a photographer believes he can solve thanks to a shadow on one of his enlargements.

The photo model on the floor was originally played by Veruschka Countess of Lehndorff, and the photographer by David Hemmings . The movie was directed by Michelangelo Antonioni.

Six images from ONOMOllywood featured in OFF The Wall magazine

The magazine OFF The Wall is publishing in its n° 1 issue a portfolio of 6 images from the series “ONOMOllywood, revisiting great movie classics” by Antoine Tempé and Omar Victor Diop. Onomo Visual Art, the cultural promotion label of the hotel group Onomo International has given free reigns to two photographers —Antoine Tempé and Omar Victor Diop— to create a series of photographs in which they revisit some of the greatest movie classics. OFF The Wall can be purchased at Colette, O.F.R., Le Bal, le Palais de Tokyo, Centre Commercial, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Agora Presse, La Hune, La Chambre Claire, Drugstore Publicis, Artazart, Centre Commercial, Rouge 58, Palais de Tokyo, La Photo Librairie, Le Bal Books, Le Merle Moqueur au 104.

This week, Omar Victor Diop and Antoine Tempé have been shooting the last scenes of their ONOMOllywood series at hotel Onomo Dakar. They’ve let the architecture of the hotel inspire them to recast a vast range of movies spanning the 50s French nouvelle vague Le Mépris, the swinging 70s cult movie Blow Up or the futuristic 90s box-office hit The Matrix.

A few images from the series will be unveiled in May in the N° 1 issue of the magazine OFF The Wall, to be released at the Paris Photo L.A. show.