Abstract
ABSTRACTDuring the 1950s, Sheikh Yacouba Sylla opened seven cinemas in the west of the Ivory Coast. The gesture by this spiritual leader, founder of a Sufi community but also a successful entrepreneur, is totally atypical in the colonial cinematic landscape. How are we to understand this extraordinary act? What memories does it evoke for the founder’s descendants, who have preserved these now disused buildings? Through an exchange between achievements in the past and recollections at the present time, this article analyses the way in which the establishment of cinemas is incorporated into a religious, economic and social project. It also looks at the link between the functioning of the Yacoubiste community and that of the cinemas, which were open until the end of the 2000s. Interviews with representatives of the Yacoubiste community bear witness to this multifaceted activity, whilst colonial archives and historical studies complete the documentation.
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