A Mélanzé coproduction
White Forest
A film by Thomas Grand and Joan Bastide
“Bees are fragile, and the dust wears them out.” - Abdou Seck, beekeeper in Bandia
The film
Running time
13'45
Year
2026
Country
Senegal
The story
Destroyed by limestone quarrying, the Bandia forest is losing its bees. Despite the white dust and the wildlife that has fled, Abdou Seck, a 72-year-old beekeeper, refuses to leave and keeps fighting out of love for his land.
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Executive production
Joan Bastide - MÉLANZÉ
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A film by
Thomas Grand and Joan Bastide
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Editing, mixing, colour grading
Thomas Grand and Joan Bastide
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Sound
Babacar « Tito » Dia
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Original music
Troupe Sangomar Diam Beuggum
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Production
Patrick Bottazzi - CREATES
The Bandia forest was green. A granary and a pharmacy for the people living around it, a paradise for the bees whose honey was known throughout Senegal.
The forest was our pharmacy, our granary, our butcher's shop.
Then the mechanical shovels sank their teeth into the earth to extract the limestone. A veil of dust covered everything, and the forest turned white. The trees are dying, the bees have fled.
Today, you no longer see a single bee in Bandia.
But not Abdou Seck, a 72-year-old beekeeper. Around his hives, which now yield so little honey, the hum of the last bees mingles with the roar of the trucks carrying the stone away. The urbanisation fever that has taken hold of the country demands ever more of it.
The forest has been destroyed, and what I am saying here is a warning.
Abdou is still fighting. Out of love for his trade, his land and his forest. Whatever its colour.
Production and coproduction
A production by
CREATES
Centre for Research-Action on Ecological and Social Transformations
Thiafoura, Sindia municipality, Senegal
In partnership with
With the support of
- AgroVoice project Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
- ARTS project Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
- Bey Diiwaan project Liechtenstein Development Service (LED)
Credits
- With
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Abdou Seck, president of the GIE Sen Abeille (beekeepers of Bandia)
- A film by
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Thomas Grand
Joan Bastide
- Producer
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Patrick Bottazzi - CREATES
- Executive producers
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Joan Bastide - MÉLANZÉ
Thomas Grand - ZIDEOPROD
- Directing, cinematography
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Thomas Grand
- Camera assistant
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Pape Ousmane Diallo
- Sound
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Babacar « Tito » Dia
- Editing, mixing, colour grading
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Thomas Grand
Joan Bastide
- Financial administration
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Ndella Mboup
Paolo Ngom
- Original music
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Troupe Sangomar Diam Beuggum
- Research, location scouting, casting
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Thomas Grand
Saliou Thiandoum
- Translations
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Patrick Bottazzi
Thomas Grand
- Technical details
- 4K · 25 fps · 16:9 · colour · H.264 / .mp4
Screen the film
Screenings, festivals, broadcasts, press enquiries: write to us and we will send you the link to the full film and the press kit.