SIRENS
FILMS
Sustainable production company
About Us
Founded in 2024 by Johanna and Sonia Makabi, Sirens (which means "alarms" in English) is
a French sustainable production company that produces works and helps industry players to produce more transparently by improving their environmental and social impact in film and audiovisual production.
Our mission
Our main objective is the production of independent series and films by French and foreign authors, with strong stories that have a universal appeal.
We strive to reach a wide audience by defending a production approach that respects the planet and life. Aware of the current environmental and social issues, we are committed to the integration of sustainable practices throughout the entire production process. Additionally, SIRENS FILMS positions itself as a talent catalyst, encouraging cross-cultural collaboration and providing platforms for underrepresented voices.
Our goal is to shed light on more contemporary and diverse subjects. Previously, with Bakhna Productions, we have developed and produced several short films that have found audiences at festivals and in local clubs.
Our observation
Problem
The film and audiovisual industry faces significant challenges.
Environmentally, it generates 1.7 million tons of CO2 per year, making it a major contributor to climate change (source : Ecoprod survey).
Socially, the industry is plagued by numerous scandals, a lack of equity and diversity, and a lack of transparency and respect for local communities and territories (source : Cinégalités survey - The 50/50 Collective).
These issues require a shift to more sustainable and responsible production practices to ensure the long-term viability and integrity of the industry.
We addresses these challenges by rethinking project development stages to minimize environmental and social impacts, implementing sustainable production practices, and distributing films transparently.
We fully support industry players to adopt eco-socially responsible approaches and engage local communities.
In addition, we are committed to creating a platform that connects national and local stakeholders, matches the needs with the skills of local talent, significantly improves the circular economy, the equity and the diversity more sustainable.
Solution
Johanna Makabi
Bio
Johanna Makabi is a director and producer of Senegalese-Congolese (DRC) origin, born in Paris. In 2017, she co-directed and produced the short documentary Méduse cheveux afro et autres mythes (best documentary award Libres courts et les couleurs du court-métrage).
She also directs short formats for the Internet (Paulette et le Clown, 24h Assa Traoré, Reines).
Graduated in 2018 from the University of Nanterre with a Master 2 in anthropology and documentary, she also works in casting and production with feature film directors (Mignonnes by Maïmouna Doucouré, Le Lycéen by Christophe Honoré).
She joined the production department of La CinéFabrique in 2019, and became an elected member of the 50/50 collective in 2022.
FONCTION
As CEO & Co-Founder of Sirens Films, she is responsible for overseeing both the artistic and relationship-based aspects of the company.
Sonia Makabi
Bio
Sonia Makabi is a senior management controller. She graduated from the University Paris Descartes with a Master 2 in Finance and Management with a specialization in Entrepreneurship. For the last five years, she has been working for a subsidiary (W&cie) of the HAVAS communications group.
Her professional career in finance and management has been built on assignments in financial administration and management, accounting and management control. She has worked in various sectors such as tobacco (Japan Tobacco International - JTI) and asset management (Institut du Patrimoine - IP).
FONCTION
As General Manager & Co-Founder of Sirens Films, she is responsible for the administrative and financial management of the company. She is also responsible for CSR strategy consulting.
Catalogue
Short movie
2022
Ne Pleure pas Halima
Halima is a young woman who doesn't go unnoticed. In addition to writing numerous engaging articles on her blog, she works as a receptionist and keeps company with her flamboyant gang of girlfriends. But her student visa is about to expire. Gravitating in worlds that seem hostile to her, Halima tries to find her place.
2022
Grâce
Grace, 8, hates her neighborhood, she hates cheerleading and today she de- cided to join her father in space.
2022
A Laundry day
Today Fatou goes to the laundromat in Harlem and meets a young man.
A Laundry day is a 5 min short shot in Harlem in 2022. It's an homage to the French New wave and a fun way to regard American society through the lens of a french-african woman. It's a classic story with a political twist...
2021
Our Memory
Mbissine Thérèse Diop was the lead actress in Sembène Ousmane's first film, "La Noire de…".
As a young Senegalese student, I discovered her face in cinema. Together, we revisit her experience as a Black actress in the 1960s...
2019
Keepin’ it real
Deep in a black subconscious: the Fates sing the stories of an angry boy, a heavy-hearted girl, and a ballroom surrounded by marble statues, but how are they all related? They are all B.L.A.C.K...
2018
Medusa, Afro Hair and others myths
From London to Paris, Marseille to finish in Dakar, we start looking for various african neighborhood in order to film various types and techniques of hairdressing: braided braids, flat braids, plaited braids,
weaving, straightening, afro ... Throught Meetings and conversations with people and hairdressers, we question the importance of treatment and maintenance of hair in African cultures. Through the stories of Romy, Cyn, Kami and Louise we follow the evolution of their hair which finally turns out to be more political than aesthetic ...
In progress
Serie
Sisters - Serie
Winner of the SACD Fund - France TV Création et Diversité
In co-production with Bizibi
In development with France TV Slash
Created by Johanna Makabi and Léa Mormin Chauvac
Paris, 1923. Inspired by the Nardal sisters, Léonie and Antoinette Laval arrive at the Sorbonne with high literary ambitions and more intimate aspirations.
But they are greeted by a racist article targeting them in the Gazette des Étudiants, sowing chaos within the university. Plunged into the turmoil of the Roaring Twenties, the two sisters react in their own way, according to their sentimental and political upbringing. Between the hustle and bustle of the bal nègres and the salons de réflexion, discovering their first desires, they will have to navigate between their personal quest and the social challenges that stand in their way, as well as finding their missing mother...
The Descendants - Serie
In co-production with Bizibi
Created by Fanta Sylla and Johanna Makabi
After the brutal death of her brother on a military base in Brest, Diana, a young French teacher of Senegalese descent who has so far denied her origins, decides to investigate this mysterious disappearance, which will take her from the Paris region to the village of her ancestors in Senegal, but above all will lead her to discover her family history, which is closely linked to the colonial history of France...
In progress
Movie
A Black Girl Toolkit to Survive Flooding - Docu Fiction
Created by Faith Toran
Faith Toran is a driven, uncompromising young African-American woman who plays guitar in an online metal band and works for Doctors Without Borders in Paris.
Far from home, her daily routine is punctuated by work and rehearsals at Zoom and her favorite activity, swimming in the pool.
But on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the death of her father, the man who taught her to swim, and after a flood in Paris, she is gripped by a sudden fear of water.
Inundated by anxiety-inducing economic news and on the advice of the company psychologist, Faith decides to ward off this new phobia by creating a flood survival kit. In this search for meaning, Faith gets her boating license and befriends a family of retired sailors who live on a barge.
A feu doux - Movie
Created by Kiyémis
In progress
Le Ponzi au féminin - Movie
Created by Badrouine Said Abdallah
In progress
In progress
Short movie
Angels - Documentary
Created by Hicham Toulli-Idrissi
Directing by Hicham Toulli-Idrissi
In coproduction with Nancy-Wang Musisà
In Seoul, the tattoo community is fighting for the legalization of their activity. Marginalized, they are creating a culture inspired by a thousand-year-old art form that has been stigmatized.
Angels is a documentary project that follows members of this community in their daily struggle for recognition of their profession.
Dieu Zèbre - Short movie
Created by Dany Colin
In progress
Livia - Short movie
Created by Adèle Albrespy
In progress
News
Les premiers lauréats du Fonds Création & Diversité 2022-2023
Press release from SACD
Les 2 lauréats du Fonds Création & Diversité - Communiqué France TV
Edition 2023
Press release from France TV
Our Memory (Johanna Makabi, 2022) - HENRI - La Cinémathèque française
The short film is available on the Cinémathèque française HENRI platform.
Keepin’ it Real. « En France, on ne dit pas le mot Noir »
IInterview with director Malique Lee Moore and producer Johanna Makabi.
Rencontre avec Sarah Bouzi, réalisatrice
Interview with Sarah Bouzi, director of the short film Ne pleure pas Halima, available on the ARTE platform.
Un docu pour démystifier les cheveux crépus
Media BRUT video about the documentary Méduse and Afro hairstyles as a political act.
Selection
Short movie
SILICON VALLEY AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL
FESTIVAL
IMAGE & VIE
Les MAINS GAUCHES
QUEER FEMINIST SHORT MOVIES
VANCOUVER QUEER FILM FESTIVAL
Atlanta BLACK PRIDE FESTIVAL
Selection by
Keepin’ it real (2021) - FRA
Selection by
Medusa, afros and other myths (2019) - USA
Selection by
Medusa, afros and other myths (2019) - SEN
Selection by
Keepin’ it real (2021) - CAN
Finalist for
Keepin’ it real (2020) - FRA
FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL D’AMIENS
Atlanta film festival
FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL
FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DU FILM INDEPENDANT DE BORDEAUX
Selection by
Our Memory (2022) - USA
Selection by
Our Memory (2024) - USA
Selection by
Ne pleure pas Halima (2022) - FRA
festival format court
NEW YORK AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL
francophone short films festival nyu
NEW YORK AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL
LE MOIS DE LA FRANCOPHONIE
THE TEXAS THEATRE
Selection by
A Laundry Day (2023) - USA
Selection by
Grâce (2024) - USA
Selection by
Ne pleure pas Halima (2022) - FRA
Selection by
A Laundry Day (2024) - USA
Selection by
Grâce (2023) - USA
Award
Short movie
FESTIVAL LIBRES COURTS
Audience Award for
Medusa, afros and other myths (2019)
Festival LES COULEURS DU COURT
Best documentary for
Medusa, afros and other myths (2019)
Festival du film franco-arabe
Noisy le Sec
Best Fiction Short Film
Jury Prize for
Ne Pleure pas Halima (2022)
FESTIVAL PREMIERS PLANS D’ANGERS
Grand Jury Prize for
Ne Pleure pas Halima (2023)
Festival du Cinéma français Aix-les-bains
Aixcellence Award « Court du Lac » François CHALAIS for Grâce (2018)
bronzelens FILM festival atlanta
Best Student Short
for Grâce (2024)
Paris 3, France
We create, develop & produce
powerful stories
in a sustainable way
@sirens_films
@sirensfilms
contact@sirensfilms.com