In the Summer of 2020, Tout simplement noir [+lee también:
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Cineuropa: How did this project come about?
Jean-Pascal Zadi: Once, when I couldn't sleep, I came across a video on YouTube featuring an astronaut who said: “Going to another planet, sooner or later, humanity will get there, the technical means will follow, but the real unknown is the human factor.” I thought it was crazy that the only problem with this monumental achievement was whether the astronauts would be able to get along. Too much profit, too many interests... The planet is heading for disaster, but we're squabbling. On the one hand, it's extremely complicated to get everyone to get along, and at the same time, it's extremely simple: you just have to listen to each other. The whole complexity of humanity seemed to me to be summed up in that sentence.

So you imagined the crew that could go into space...
As I wanted a new perspective, I decided to imagine an African crew, especially since I knew that this would allow me to explore areas that fascinate me. Being African is not enough to get along. To do that, you have to respect the uniqueness of each human being, not lump everyone together. When I make a film, I don't try to provide answers, but I like to open up lots of avenues for reflection.

We were expecting you to venture into comedy, but instead you've come up with an adventure film. Was it important, even political, for it to have an epic feel?
Black to the Future, is really the film I would have wanted to see when I was 14. Africans as heroes in a film about space conquest? So I had a young audience in mind, and I knew that a comedy alone wouldn't be enough to appeal to them. There is comedy, because that's my language, but it's not the only genre I want to explore. Comedy is a good medium for getting messages across, but a space film with nothing but jokes would have bored me to death. I needed there to be adventure, for us to fear for them, for it not to be easy to get there. For me, cinema should be about watching stories we couldn't have imagined, with heroes we couldn't have imagined, and worlds we couldn't have imagined.

Can we talk about the creation of this world, particularly the sets?
What was exciting was that there was a whole universe to be created, as we had no model in terms of African space adventure. I wanted to get away from the classic Western references - Star Wars, Alien, Interstellar [+lee también:
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Who is your hero, Pierre Blé, the intrepid pilot who constantly puts his foot in it?
It's a bit like the character I carry around with me everywhere. What I love about comedy is the character who isn't evil, but who doesn't say the right things at the right time, or in the right way. He's a good guy, but his honesty is above morality. I wonder if that's not actually what I like (laughs). Saying what shouldn't be said, and above all, other people's reactions. The silences.

It's also a wry take on clichés.
Of course I have a wry sense of humour. I test the limits, I try to go to places where we haven't really been: excision, colonisation, Antillean parenthood. It only works if you test everywhere, everyone. If you keep going in the same direction all the time, you become BFM or CNews, and that's not my aim.

What was closest to your heart?
The ultimate aim was to open up people's imaginations. So that Black or African or other kids and teenagers could say to themselves: why don't Africans go into space after all? That they might think it's possible, that it could break down barriers. For me, what lies at the heart of the film is the desire to create new heroes, to develop new imaginations. To make science fiction, a space movie with a new point of view, African and environmental.