Category: Fictional section

Synopsis

When a Chinese merchant brings to a neighbourhood of Luanda a peculiar holy plastic figure of Our Lady, a mourning mother will seek peace, a committed barber starts a new cult and a stray kid will look for revenge for his lost friend. This delicate urban tale will reveal a family and city facade full of resentment, greed and torment.

Biofilmography

Ery Claver is one of the most versatile filmmakers in Angola. He began his career as a cameraman, working on numerous television programs and documentaries. As a director, he has signed several short films, most notably Lucy in the Sky with Traffic Lights (2018) in and Enóquio que não tinha coração (2020). Ery has had his work screened at several international festivals. In 2019, Ery went on to co-write and do the direction of photography of the award winning Angolan film Air Conditioner, directed by Fradique.

Synopsis

When a Chinese merchant brings to a neighbourhood of Luanda a peculiar holy plastic figure of Our Lady, a mourning mother will seek peace, a committed barber starts a new cult and a stray kid will look for revenge for his lost friend. This delicate urban tale will reveal a family and city facade full of resentment, greed and torment.

Biofilmography

Ery Claver is one of the most versatile filmmakers in Angola. He began his career as a cameraman, working on numerous television programs and documentaries. As a director, he has signed several short films, most notably Lucy in the Sky with Traffic Lights (2018) in and Enóquio que não tinha coração (2020). Ery has had his work screened at several international festivals. In 2019, Ery went on to co-write and do the direction of photography of the award winning Angolan film Air Conditioner, directed by Fradique.

Synopsis

A young Fulani girl, Sira, and her tribe cross the desert to take refuge in her fiancé’s village. In the middle of the journey, Sira sees the men of her tribe violently massacred. The leader of the group, Yéré, decides to bring Sira in for having been humiliated by her. Raped and abandoned in the desert, Sira finds herself alone. She discovers the terrorists’ camp, led by Moustapha, her father’s best friend and Yéré, her rapist. Between bitterness, desolation and revenge, Sira decides to give everything to thwart the terrorists’ macabre plans.

Biofilmography

Apolline W. Traoré obtained her Master in Film in 1998 at Boston University, USA. Her film credits include two short films, “The price of ignorance” in 1998 and “Kounandi” in 2003; three TV series, “Monia & Rama” in 2001, “Le Testament” in 2009 and “Eh! Les hommes Eh! Les femmes” in 2014; a TV programme “M’Pama Fo » in 2009; and three feature films, “Sous la clarté de la lune” in 2005, “Moi- Zaphira” in 2013, “Frontières” and « Desrances », selected and awarded at numerous film festivals worldwide.

Synopsis

Awa, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, enjoys her teenage years with her twin brother Adama who dreams of Europe. When their grandmother dies, her aunt Fatou and uncle Atoumane promise to marry to preserve the family union. But Fatou does not like Atoumane and the latter, tired of waiting to consummate his marriage, commits the irreparable.

Biofilmography

Moussa Sène Absa made his film debut writing the screenplay of the film Les enfants de Dieu. His debut short film, Le prix du mensonge, won the Silver Tanit at Carthage Film Festival in 1988. In 1991, he made Ken Buguli, a feature film, followed in 1992 by the internationally acclaimed feature film Ça twiste à Popenguine. In 1996, he made Tableau Ferraille (Best Camera at FESPACO 1997), the first of his trilogy on women, followed by Madame Brouette (Silver Bear at Berlinale 2002) and Xalé (2022). His last two feature films Teranga Blues and Yoole were selected in competition at FESPACO in 2007 and 2013.

Synopsis

Algeria, 1516. The pirate Aroudj Barbarossa frees Algiers from the tyranny of the Spanish and seizes power over the kingdom. Rumor has it he murdered King Salim Toumi despite their alliance. Against all odds, one woman will stand up to him: Queen Zaphira. Between history and legend, this woman’s journey tells of a struggle, of personal and political turmoil endured for the sake of Algiers.

Biofilmography

Damien Ounouri is an Algerian-French director based in Algiers. He studied cinema theory, developing its practical application as a self-taught skill. His documentary Fidai (2012) had its premiere at the Toronto TIFF and was shown in cinemas throughout France. His medium-length film Kindil El Bahr (2016) had its premiere at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and was broadcast on ARTE. The last queen is his first full-length feature film.

Synopsis

Halim and Mina run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice shows an utmost dedication in learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim. Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man.

Biofilmography

Maryam Touzani moves back to her country after her studies and works as a journalist, specializing in North African cinema. In 2008, she directs a documentary for the first national women’s day in Morocco, an important date for the country, followed by a number of other documentaries. When they slept (2012), her first short fiction, travels around the world through prestigious festivals, winning a total of seventeen awards. In 2015, her second short fiction, Aya goes to the beach continues on the same path, winning fifteen awards worldwide.

Synopsis

Among the trees, young women and men working the summer harvest develop new feelings, flirt, try to understand each other, find and flee deeper connections.

Biofilmography

Erige Sehiri is a French-Tunisian director and producer. With her own production company, HENIA, she develops Tunisian author driven documentaries distinguished at Visions Du Reel, IDFA, CINEMED…In 2012, My Father’s Facebook, short documentary, in  2018, her breakout feature documentary, Railway Men, remained six weeks in Tunisian theaters. In 2021, she directed her first fiction feature, Under the fig trees, which won several post-production awards at the Venice International Film Festival.

Synopsis

In a working -class estate of Mauritius, old man Bolom is nowhere to be seen. His son Ronaldo sets out to find him and meets Ajeya, an Indian migrant worker. He dreams of a Golden boy’s life, she flees her condition as a modern-day slave. Together, their night-crossing of the island takes on a new dimension, between mystical quest and desire for freedom.

Biofilmography

Mauritian writer-director and producer graduated from ENSAV in France. He then went on to create Cameleon Production, the company that has produced all of his films and numerous short films by young Mauritian directors. Committed to the development of an Indian Ocean cinema, he is the founder of Association Porteurs d’Images and Ile Courts Festival, the Mauritius international short film festival. Simin Zetwal is second feature film.

Synopsis

After 7 years in prison Geoffrey, 35, has to restart his life in Shimoni, a sleepy village in rural Kenya, a place he loathes. There, he stays hiding in the local Catholic Church compound and never leaves. Then one Sunday after Mass, Geoffrey sees a man with a white patch of hair. Petrified he pees his pants and in a moment of rage kills a calf. The monster has found him in his hiding place.

Biofilmography

Angela Wanjiku Wamai studied film at La Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión in Havana, Cuba and works as a film editor in Nairobi. She loves to edit documentaries because it allows her to observe human beings and get paid to do it. She was recently awarded best film editor by the Women in Film Awards-Kenya. In 2017 she wrote, I Had to Bury Cũcũ, a short film. Her directorial debut was ‘Dad, Are you Ok?’ a short film that premiered at the International female film festival in Malmö. Shimoni is her feature directorial debut.

Synopsis

Marie works as the head cook in a retirement home in a small mountain town in the south of France. Though she seems relatively well adjusted, Marie harbours a shameful secret-she’s a former child soldier. Silently struggling with the remnants of her traumatic past, Marie hides her PTSD from those around her. Her quiet life is turned upside down the day an African priest named Father Patrick begins to volunteer at the home. She immediately recognizes him from her past. As Father Patrick charms all her co-workers, Marie must decide if she will take revenge or cling to the new life she’s built.

Biofilmography

Ellie Foumbi is an actor, writer, and director from Cameroon whose work has screened at Venice, Santa Barbara International Film Festival and Tribeca. Her first feature won the Best Narrative Feature Audience Award. She’s an alumnus of Berlinale Talents and New York Film Festival’s Artist Academy. Her projects have been supported by The Gotham, SFFILM Raining Grant, Film Independent, the Tribeca Film Institute and the Venice Biennale College. She holds an MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts in Directing.