An improvised feature film with very documentary aspects which fits in perfectly with the extensive oeuvre ofJean Rouch. Madame l’eau was made in cooperation with three men from Niger with whom Rouch has already cooperated for several years. Philo Bregstein (co-writer): ‘The unique thing about the films which Rouch made with his African friends Damouré Zika, Lam Ibrahima Dia and Tallou Mouzourane, such as Jaguar and Cocorico monsieur Poulet, was that Rouch allowed his African friends to determine largely the shooting style, the film rhythm and cutting.’Madame l’eau is about a number of Nigerian farmers (the actors are Damouré, Lam and Tallou, who more or less play themselves), who are looking for a simple and inexpensive way to irrigate their land. Their dream: Niger will be green. They come up with the idea of fetching a windmill from Holland. They tackle the increasing ‘desertification’ of the Sahel in the their own way. Rouch follows the three men with his camera, which he operates himself as in his other films, as they investigate the use of wind energy in the Dutch polders.Rouch: ‘The solution which we are looking for may be very naive and simple, but it can work. That is the lesson of the film.’ The film has an unmistakeably ironic tone, but Rouch has serious intentions. He opposes the tendency to seek expensive and too complex solutions which do not fit in with the needs of the local population when tackling development projects in the Third World.
