Mati Diop

Mati Diop (born 22 June 1982) is a French film director and actress. She won the Grand Prix at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival for her feature film debut, the supernatural romantic drama Atlantics, and the Golden Bear at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival for her second feature film, the documentary Dahomey. As an actress, she is known for the drama film 35 Shots of Rum.

Early life Diop was born in Paris, France. Her father, Wasis Diop, is a black Senegalese musician, while her mother, Christine Brossard, is a white French art buyer and photographer. She is the niece of filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty. During her childhood, she often travelled back and forth between France and Senegal, developing a transnational identity.

Education Diop trained in the Advanced Degree Programme at Le Fresnoy National Studio of Contemporary Art in France, as well as at the Palais de Tokyo in their experimental artist studio space Le Pavillon.

Career Diop was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study from 2014 to 2015. While a part of the institute's selective Film Study Center Fellowship Program, she wrote the script for her first feature film Fire, Next Time.

Directing Diop made her directorial debut in 2004 with her short film Last Night (2004). Her short film Atlantiques (2009) won the Rotterdam International Film Festival's Tiger Award for Short Film, and a Top Prize at Media City Film Festival during her first North American appearance in 2009.

Her documentary short Mille Soleils was released in 2013. The film focused on actor Magaye Niang, who was the star of Diop's uncle's seminal feature Touki Bouki (1973) and explained how he had come to live as a farmer in the intervening years. The film played at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and was later also programmed at the Museum of Modern Art in 2014.

In 2019, she became the first black female director to have her film premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival when her feature debut Atlantics was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. She was one of only four women accepted into the festival in the given year. The film won the Grand Prix. It was picked up by Netflix shortly following Cannes' award announcements, however it is not a Netflix Original Film.

Diop directed a documentary, In My Room, as part of Miu Miu's Women's Tales series, which blended audio recordings of her maternal grandmother, Maji, with footage Diop shot of herself in her Parisian apartment during the time she was quarantined during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Diop's work has been featured at the Venice Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival in 2012, and the Valdivia International Film Festival,

Acting Diop made her acting debut in Claire Denis' film 35 Shots of Rum (2008), playing the lead role of a young woman in a close-knit relationship with her father, whom she has trouble leaving as she gets ready for marriage. She received a nomination for the Lumière Award for Most Promising Actress for her role in the film. Diop continues to act sporadically in films and television.

Advertising In 2026, Diop featured in an advertising campaign of Phoebe Philo's eponymous fashion brand.

Artistry and themes In a 2025 interview with the Financial Times, Diop discussed her cinematic approach, emphasizing the importance of centering African and diasporic narratives. She cited influences from American underground cinema, including filmmakers like Larry Clark and Harmony Korine, and highlighted her commitment to creating films that resonate deeply with African and Black audiences.

In their article on Diop's work up to Atlantics (2019), Lindsay Turner states that Diop's work is often concerned with trans-nationalism, immigration, the female experience, and post-colonialism in relation with North Africa and Europe. In order to start work on Atlantics, she began travelling to Senegal to reconnect with her African heritage. She says she found her voice in those journeys—and in her own French-Senegalese hyphenated identity. In an interview with Metal Magazine, Diop explains that she tackles cinematics and poetic aspects of her film with different perspectives due to the contrasting "sensibilities" of French and African cultures.

Diop uses aspects of magical realism in her films, examples including Atlantics (2019), Snow Cannon (2011), and Big in Vietnam (2012). Diop can also be quoted talking about her storytelling processes, notably on how she uses sets and props to convey her plots as opposed to just characters and dialogue. Palme d'Or Caméra d'Or 2019 Carthage Film Festival Tanit d'Argent Tanit d'Or 2019 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Milos Stehlik Award: Most Promising Filmmaker 2019 Denver International Film Festival Krzysztof Kieslowski Award: Best Feature Film 2019 European Film Awards European Film Award: European Discovery 2019 Ghent International Film Festival Grand Prix: Best Film 2019 Greater Western New York Film Critics Association Awards GWNYFCA Award: Breakthrough Director 2019 Hamptons International Film Festival Golden Starfish Award: Narrative Feature 2019 Indiewire Critics' Poll IPC Award: Best First Feature 2019 Key West Film Festival Critics' Choice Award 2019 London Film Festival Sutherland Award: First Feature Competition 2019 Mumbai Film Festival International Competition: Golden Gateway Award 2019 Odyssey Awards Odyssey Award: Breakthrough Director 2019 Pingyao International Film Festival People's Choice Award: Best of Fest – Best Film 2019 Prix Louis Delluc Prix Louis Delluc: Best First Film 2019 San Sebastián International Film Festival Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Prize 2019 Stockholm Film Festival Impact Award 2019 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards TFCA Award: Best First Feature 2019 Women Film Critics Circle Awards WFCC Award: Best Woman Storyteller 2020 Austin Film Critics Association AFCA Award: Best First Film 2020 Black Reel Awards Outstanding Director, Motion Picture. Outstanding Emerging Director.

Outstanding First Screenplay. 2020 Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US Heterodox Award 2020 Cèsar Awards, France Cèsar: Best First Film 2020 Directors Guild of America, USA DGA Award: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film 2020 Gold Derby Awards Gold Derby Award: Foreign Language Film 2020 Image Awards (NAACP) Image Award: Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture (Film) 2020 International Cinephile Society Awards ICS Award: Best Debut Feature 2020 Lumière Awards, France Lumière Award: Best First Film 2020 Online Film and Television Association OFTA Film Award: Best Feature Debut 2020 Online Film Critics Society Awards OFCS Award: Best Debut 2020 Palm Springs International Film Festival Directors to Watch FIPRESCI Prize 2024 Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear Dahomey