Jonas Mekas and Ousmane Sembene each stand as among the most significant independent filmmakers of the 20th century in their own unique ways. They were born only eight days apart, at the turn of the year 1923. Both endured the storms of the 20^th century, World War II, and the imperialist occupation of their respective homelands, Lithuania and Senegal. Both crossed paths with legendary artistic and political figures: Allan Ginsberg, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol; Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral, Ho Chi Minh…

Through his cinema, Sembene sought to overturn the colonial gaze on his continent and re-centre African people as subjects of their history. His filmography is a series of political and pedagogical gestures, reflecting his belief that literature, steeped in elitism, could not reach a largely oral society. His work forged a powerful counter-narrative to the dominant colonial-capitalist discourse.

Mekas, meanwhile, crafted a very personal, complex filmography away from mainstream languages and commercial production, building a community of artistic allies at the Anthology Film Archive, New York’s mecca of experimental cinema.

At first glance, their worlds seem apart. Yet curiously, their respective first features, Black Girl and Guns of the Trees, shot in black and white, share the same plot: a young woman, facing the crushing domination of exploitation, racism, and patriarchy, takes her own life.

Though there is no known evidence that the two filmmakers ever met, they might have — on several occasions. The School of Mutants, after extensive field research and archival investigation, invites us to imagine the conversation that these two icons of freedom and fierce autonomy could have shared, embodied by theatre director Naubertas Janiskas and filmmaker/actor Alassane Sy.

A speculation. The snow of Semeniškiai. The ocean of Yoff. A dialogue from beyond…