Shot on the river Niger, close to the city of Niamey, this film features Damoure Zika and Moussa Hamidou, who were Jean Rouch's principle actor and sound engineer, respectively.

The film is set during 'Cinema day', a day during which people in Niamey could see as much films as they want with only one ticket. This day also coincides with an unofficial 'Holley' ceremony, an animist Songhay ritual.

Damoure and Moussa embark on a pirogue and head upstream to the place where the ceremony is due to take place. As they go along, they recount stories and talk about cinema.

During the trip the director swaps a small radio for a mask from South West Africa which soon is to be understood as the key event in the film. This mask, which is a vehicle to enable man to embrace the spirit of an animal, once submitted to the 'Holley' ceremony reveals the figure of chameleon.

The film was made in homage to Jean Rouch and the chameleon stands as a symbol for the 'author/director' in general. The reptile's change of colour; his invisibility and ability for camouflage are placed in parallel with the ability of the director and his canera to become the 'invisible eye' and to remain in the service of the condition.

The title Secretary of the Invisible is an expression used by the character, Elisabeth Costello in J.M. Cootze's book entitled 'Elisabeth Costello'. An expression Cootzee, in turn, borrowed from the famous Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz.