Scarifications, suicide attempts, internment, conversion to Islam, foundation for orphans: Diam’s, ex-star rapper, comes out of 12 years of media silence to deliver her truth in a documentary presented at Cannes, which she co- executed. The one who was a central figure of hip-hop in France in the 2000s is not on the Croisette. “When you see this film and the life that Mélanie (her real first name) has decided to lead, you will understand that she could not physically lead it to Cannes, she is coherent,” said Thierry Frémaux, general delegate of the Festival de Cannes, as an introduction to the screening on Thursday May 26 evening.
Today aged 41, Diam’s however sent a short video message, screened before her film, certifying that her absence “is not contempt or disdain”, but is part of a concern to “preserve this little cocoon of simple life” that she has today far from showbiz.
“We love you!”, launched the young spectators in the public, not or barely born when she monopolized the charts in France. The documentary Salam (“Peace” in Arabic), apart from an incursion by Diam’s today into the empty Zenith of Paris, does not talk about music.
The forty-year-old presents herself veiled but with her face visible. The film is split into two parts: the malaise of showbiz times and the aftermath.
Diam’s and relatives first recount the suffering. We learn of a first suicide attempt at age 14, an extension of an irrational fear of the death of his mother, who is nevertheless still in good health and which is expressed in the documentary. Rap and success don’t help matters. “By dint of running in all directions, my life had none left,” she asserts.
Vitaa, an artist who made his first parts, describes the tears of Diam’s behind the scenes after triumphal concerts. His former manager recounts the scarifications on the arms and face. A psychiatric internment is necessary. “They put me out with the drugs,” says Diam’s. Upon his release, we understand that there will be another attempt to end his life.
The turning point of the conversion to Islam occurs when, during a girls’ evening, one of the guests isolates herself to pray and that Diam’s, who nevertheless grew up in Catholicism, follows her. The ex-rapper, mother of three children, claims to have then converted alone to Mauritius where she had gone on a trip with Vitaa. As a response to those who said she was indoctrinated when the photos of her, veiled, in Paris Match, had created a stir ten years ago.
The biases of staging are assumed. We only see the relatives who testify in the first part, which is quite dark, only the faces, as if they themselves were veiled. “We see the truth of the faces, we tighten up on the silences, the smiles, the tears, which is also perhaps a way of making people forget her veil and the (long) garment she wears when she appears”, estimates Anne Cissé, one of the co-directors (with Diam’s and Houda Benyamina).
The second part of the film corresponds to the conversion of Diam’s and to her foundation dedicated to orphans in Mali (even if, as she told Le Parisien on Friday May 27, she lives in the United Arab Emirates).
Diam’s took the opportunity to clear up any accusations of proselytism. The former singer points out that her conversion resonated with a “life” choice rather than ending it, like other artists at the end of their rope, by gun or syringe. “Generally, artists are no longer there to tell us why they fell into addictions, like Amy Winehouse, why they shot themselves in the head, like Kurt Cobain,” she slips into Le Parisien.
