In Senegalese and African cinema, her name is synonymous with excellence. Actress, director, screenwriter, and producer, Fatou Jupiter Touré has built her reputation role by role, with raw talent, rare versatility, and a demanding vision that shines through on screen. A leading figure in Senegalese cinema, she now has her sights set on something bigger: making film an instrument of change, so that women can finally take their rightful place in the creative and cultural industries.

Featured on the show "Sitöé," which celebrates women leaders, Fatou Jupiter Touré speaks candidly. Without filters, without pretense. With a quiet strength that makes her much more than an actress, she is an icon, a builder.

To those close to her, she is “Jupi”. As a United Nations ambassador, she remains true to her primary cause, namely defending the rights of women and girls, both on television sets and in life.

A destiny shaped by passion

Nothing predestined her for the big screen. As a child, she dreamed of presenting the news. But the turning point came at Cheikh Anta Diop University, when a friend introduced her to the Isseu Niang Workshop for Theatrical Research and Practice. Two years later, she joined Forut Media Centre. With a degree in English, experience at the Daniel Sorano National Theatre alongside legends, and training in France and Brazil, Fatou Jupiter has tried her hand at everything. Production assistant, sound engineer, executive producer… Each skill she's acquired has shaped the well-rounded artist, capable of understanding cinema from the inside out.

" That's life "

The general public discovered her in 2015 in the series "C'est la vie" by Marguerite Abouet. Playing Assitan, a dedicated midwife, she touched millions of homes across Africa and the world. This role became a mission, particularly to inspire young girls and change perceptions. Some young women chose medicine, others embraced their natural hair. The actress then understood the power of her craft.

Her filmography is growing rapidly: Léna Gaye in Golden, Fatima, a secret agent in the Ghanaian series Yelo Pèppe, Zahra Fall in Key&Za (a series she created herself). Fatou Jupiter moves seamlessly between roles with disconcerting ease. In fact, in 2022, FESTICAB in Burundi awarded her the Best Actress prize for the film "Que le père soit" by Clarence T. Delgado. Other distinctions mark her career. For Fatou Jupiter, each character is an act of deliberate activism.

Create, transmit, impact

Her ambitions don't stop at acting. By launching the "Teranga Movies Awards," a festival that professionalizes the industry, provides training, rewards, and highlights a different country each year, this young woman is attracting the world to Dakar. In fact, the fifth edition is already in the works. At the same time, she founded "Penda Naar," a lifestyle brand that weaves together her Senegalese, Malian, and Ivorian heritage around the feminine world of fragrances, linens, accessories, and reimagined traditions to enhance everyday life.

Continuing her commitment to empowering women, she created the series Key&Za. With "Key&Za," she offers contemporary Senegalese women a mirror. Ambitions, doubts, strength, friendship, resilience—"a voice finding its voice, a people looking at themselves honestly." An acclaimed series because it speaks the truth.

One single watchword

Having been involved with UN Women for years, Fatou Jupiter repeats the same message, in Cannes as elsewhere: dare. Dare to apply, dare to lead, dare to produce, because for her, women still have many places to take, and in every decision-making position.

Her ambition is clear. She wants to have a massive impact through cinema, art and education, to make female entrepreneurship simpler and more visible in the cultural industries.

Through this interview, she shares with us the secrets of her success, her struggles, her feelings and the projects that already inspire her for tomorrow, among other confessions.