Marie Gicquel edited by Wassila Belhacine 07:40, May 27, 2022
In her documentary "Salam", presented at Cannes last night, the former rapper Mélanie Georgiades tells her story, after twelve years of media silence.
Success, depression, conversion to Islam... the work traces the artist's painful journey.
"She also wanted to restore the truth, in any case the truth of what happened to her", explains Anne Cissé, co-director of the documentary.
The first images of the "Salam" documentary, directed by Mélanie Georgiades (Diam's), Anne Cissé and Houda Benyamina, show endless crowds at her concerts.
To make you dizzy.
But that doesn't seem to impress Diam's.
On stage, the singer appears smiling, energetic, confident, rather comfortable in her sneakers.
She reigns over the music industry for almost ten years: her hit "DJ" propels her and takes her to the heights of hits for years.
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But, in her dressing room, alone, Diam's depressed.
A descent into hell narrated by the main concerned and his relatives.
Like his former manager, who tells of his scarified arms and his sometimes sad look.
The rapper confides with her mother, about her psychiatric internment and "drug hell".
Even her friend, the singer Vitaa, still moved, explains her feeling of helplessness in the face of the discomfort of her partner in "Night Confessions".
"The theme of mental health was close to her heart. She had a very clear idea. She considers these subjects to be very contemporary. She also wanted to restore the truth, in any case the truth of what happened to her" explains Anne Cissé, the co-director of the documentary on Europe 1.
Renaissance
Diam's confides in a second part of the film, his rebirth, which passes through his conversion to Islam.
A decision she makes alone, one evening, on the beach.
Religion then becomes the red thread of the documentary: her change of life, her involvement in humanitarian work – she founded an orphanage in Mali.
"In terms of structure, it's at the heart of the film, but it's not the subject. What Mélanie wanted to convey with this documentary, she doesn't talk about Islam but about spirituality. She tells us that she has suffered and that she has found an answer that is hers. She does not ask anyone to approve, "says Anne Cissé.
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She also talks about her life as a mother of three children, her reconciliation with her father.
The former rapper now lives far from France, in the United Arab Emirates and far from show business.
And to no longer be confronted with it, Diam's will not come to Cannes.