French-Senegalese actress and producer Seydina Baldé has taken on many roles throughout her career, including karate world champion and stuntman in films such as that directed by Brian de Palma Deadly woman and Bond film Casino Royalebut since childhood he dreamed of becoming an actor.
After a dozen small roles, Baldé earned his first leading role with the self-produced, English-language action thriller Covert operation (also known as The borderland). The North Korea-set film about a bounty hunter on a mission to free prisoners from a high-security military compound was sold to Lionsgate in the US and was praised by action film fans.
A decade later, Baldé appears in the most ambitious production of his career, a six-part show Lex Africanawhich is considered the first martial arts action thriller from West Africa.
Baldé plays the brilliant architect and martial arts expert Gabriel Aliou Thiam, who, after spending time in Asia, returns to his native Senegal and his hometown of Dakar after his politician father dies in a car accident.
He concludes that the death was not accidental. When local police dismiss his concerns, he launches his own investigation, which brings him into conflict with both Dakar’s criminal underworld and forces outside the country. At the same time, Thiam takes a job at a local NGO, which gives him a better vision for his country.
The cast also includes Maud Baecker (Tomorrow is ours), Richard Collector (The French Village), Aicha Ba (The lack of), Matar Diouf (Afterward, Atlanticist), Amélie Mbaye (Handle), Moussa Sau (Banel & Adams) and Eriq Ebouaney (Here and there) as well as stuntman and long-time Baldé employee Serge Crozon-Cazin.
The title Lex Africana is based on Pax Romana, the name for the 200 years of peace and prosperity in the Roman Empire from 27 BC. to 180 AD Lex Africana Hero Gabriel is on a mission to achieve the same stability in Africa.
Seydina Baldé, Alexandre Rideau (c) Franck Castel MPP
Baldé created the series and co-wrote it with Manuel di Zio. The series is produced by Keewu Productions, the Dakar-based company and Mediawan Africa subsidiary headed by Alexandre Rideau, in co-production with Baldés Shimazu Productions.
“I thought it was time for an African hero in the style of Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt Mission impossible“says Baldé. “He’s part African Zorro, part Jason Bourne because he works in secret.”
He was also concerned with challenging outside perceptions of Africa and highlighting Africa’s contrasting realities through the character Thiam, who represents a growing Senegalese emerging middle class while also dealing with his country’s tougher side.
Baldé, who was born and raised in France and lived in Canada for a time, saw the potential of filming in Senegal when he was cast in Stefano Sollima’s 2020 Sky Atlantic, Canal+ and Amazon Prime Video Italian crime drama ZeroZeroZerofor two episodes filmed in the country.
“I could see that the country was ready to welcome quality productions when it came to its technicians,” he said.
He sought out Rideau as a partner after being impressed by Keewu’s cop series set in Dakar in 2019 Sakho & Manganesecreated by Jean Luc Herbulot (Saloum) and starring Issaka Sawadogo and Yann Gael.
“For me, this was the first premium production ever to come from French-speaking Africa. I wanted a solid partner who was open to the action genre, which is not easy to implement and has its own language,” he explains.
Rideau, who has been based in Africa for more than two decades, founded Keewu Production in 2012.
The Dakar-based company became part of Lagardère Studios in 2015, which in turn was acquired by the pan-European film and TV content group Mediawan in 2020. The company is now a cornerstone of the regional pole Mediawan Africa, with Rideau also taking on the role of production manager within this group.
Keewu has been a leader in the development of local drama series in West Africa, among others It’s life and Black Santiago Club.
Rideau says that identifying talent above and below the line and then training and mentoring them in the early stages of their careers is at the heart of Keewu’s activities, with the aim of supporting and growing the audiovisual ecosystem in Senegal and wider West Africa.
“In recent years we have had productions where 20% of the production costs were associated with training. If more and more series are being filmed in Dakar today, it is because through this work we have helped to build three or four crews,” he explains.
“With every production we try to increase the quality a little and also break into new genres. One of the reasons we were happy Sakho & Manganese is that we managed to turn Africa into an American-style police series. What we liked about Seydina’s project was the fact that it took the codes of action cinema and transferred them to Africa and Dakar in a very authentic way.”
Lex Africana launched on April 22 on Canal+ Original and Canal+ Afrique and will be available in six months on Chaine Action, the French network of Mediawan Thematics, part of the Canal+ bouquet.
Mediawan’s international distribution arm, which hired an MG, is now working to secure distribution outside French-speaking countries, with rights available for the US, Canada, Australia and the UK.
Both Baldé and Rideau say the extent of Lex Africana has laid the foundation for equally ambitious series set in other parts of the African continent.
Baldé reveals that they are in the late stages of developing a new English-language show that will be filmed in South Africa, where the cinema industry already has a track record in the action genre.
“We will be filming in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town. “It will be a treasure hunt of sorts through South Africa, with a story at its heart that has global resonance and a mixed local and international cast,” he says.
The couple also has plans for future seasons of Lex Africana.
“The first season is the birth of a hero,” says Baldé. “The first episodes take time to establish Gabriel’s character, the world he lives in and the other characters, but by the end of the six episodes he really exists and we want him to continue his mission, not just in Senegal , but also in other parts of Africa.”