Paméla Diop
Paméla Diop is a prominent Franco-Senegalese film producer, born in Cannes, France, in 1981. With a French mother who worked in advertising and a Senegalese father who was a journalist and documentary filmmaker, Diop has a deep connection to both cultures. She discovered Dakar, Senegal, at age nineteen and later moved there in 2002, where she began her entrepreneurial journey with an import-export business.Her career in the film industry officially began in 2009, working in PR for Canal Plus, and she started her first production company in Paris in 2012. She further honed her skills by earning a Master's degree in production management in 2014.In 2019, Diop co-founded Lacmé Studios in Dakar, Senegal, with Congolese director Jean Luc Herbulot. This partnership was formed with the vision of creating a stronghold for African filmmaking, focusing on genre films. Their first significant project together was the critically acclaimed film "Saloum" (2021), which Diop produced and co-wrote the story for. "Saloum" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and gained international recognition. She also co-produced "Zero" (2024), another action feature film with Herbulot.Beyond Lacmé Studios, Paméla Diop is the managing director of AWA Productions, a company she established in 2022, dedicated to producing films written and/or directed by women from Africa and the diaspora. AWA Productions reinvests its profits into developing other films and programs to empower and train women in the film industry through her association African Women Action (AWA). Diop is known for her tenacity as an entrepreneur and her commitment to fostering African cinematic voices, particularly those of women.
