3.5-- RACHEL,
LA STAR AUX PIEDS NUES,
Héléne Magny & Pierre Migneault
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
At the age of nine, Rachel Mwanza was living on the streets
of Kinshasa, Congo. First abandoned by her father, then
her mom, then her grandmother who threw her out but kept
Rachel's brothers, Rachel spends over five years on the
street. She meets Marlene who takes care of her in her decrepit
squat along with other children. But the world is full of
unfathomable surprises. Rachel starred in Ken Nguyen's 2012
film Rebelle
(War Witch). Unable to either read or write, this
resilient sincere girl ended up walking away with major
prizes awarded to her at the big international film festivals.
She was 14-years-old when she held up her Golden Bear Award.
Coming back to Congo and her village, however, she encounters
nothing but poverty, anger and street gangs who have turned
Marlene into an alcoholic and a victim of multiple rapes.
Her grandmother keeps asking her for money and Rachel lets
her have it. One wonders if Rachel will have another golden
chance to make her dreams happen. She wants to help the
poor and become a star. This is one of those documentaries
that show the great divide between the film world and real
life
3.1-- LE
SAVOIR EST UNE LUMIÉRE,
Noémie De Pas & Tit Brecdlj
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A documentary that reveals the difficulties in getting kids
into schools. Often, the parents need them at home to help
them and sometimes they are far from the villages that dot
the continent. We visit inside classrooms overloaded with
kids. Some schools enforce kids to wear ties but they are
hard to come by. Tests are now administered from the get-go,
and in the past, there was no such thing as failure. Parents
are afraid to send their kids to school for this. Kids are
very attached to their villages and families, so schools
represent a separation. The French do not want their kids
going to the same schools as Africans -- a problem since
colonization that still lingers. Methods of learning rely
on stories; these age-old tales empower the children as
each carries a moral. Africa's past learning conduit came
from an oral tradition. Kids start school at age seven.
There is much repetition of words as the students read little
books in French. Teachers are most diligent, and the kids
are well behaved. French is the language of learning in
schools there. Kids are literate in the French language
but not in their own language. They are given no alphabetization
for their language. They feel a great uprooting of their
own culture. One girl does not even know how to speak her
native language, as her parents only spoke French. They
learn a lot about France but not too much about their own
country. Shaping character is stressed -- as much as academic
acumen. This character building is directly aligned to each
age, and each age is aligned with chores and activities
in village communities. Music is taught along with the 3Rs.
Traditional versus the modern is discussed in this illuminating
film. Although we start at Burkina Faso, there is a flaw
in that we do not know which schools or villages are shown
in this film. On-camera interviews with educational specialists
along with visiting village specialists contain no mention
as to location. Still, this information-oriented film is
most interesting and certainly appeals to teachers regardless
of the country where one is a pedagogue.
3.2-- POUR
UNE NOUVELLE SEVILLE, Kathy
Wazana
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
This
interesting documentary focuses on the rarely examined angle
of past Jewish and Arab harmony in Morocco. Ben Gurion obliged
Jews to abandon their Arab homeland to live in Israel. In
turn, Arabs were sent back to Morocco. Another exodus in
the 60s occurred; many Jews lived in Morocco, but left as
well, believing they were now threatened. Arabs and Jews
are interviewed and what is clear is Jews and Arabs were
great friends and now each misses his Moroccan co-habitation
in the land where conflicts between the two religions did
not exist. It was fun to watch Jews and Arabs dancing together
and playing superb music. The singing is so similar between
both cultures.
2.3--
FORTUNA, LA MAMAN DE LA MAMAN,
Rosalie Mbele Atangan
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
At 8-years-old Fortuna is sent by her parents toYaoundé
to take care of an cook for the children. She also cleans
the house. From Cameroon, she has been groomed for this
job since she was five. Every day, she gets up at 5 to prepare
food. She misses her home that is 500 miles away, but the
female broker who negotiates finding children to come and
take care of the family says it has become more difficult
as prices have gone up. The parents want this for their
girls so she can bring home money to the family. Fortuna
takes care of her own family and the one she lives with.
She is pleased she has learned to do the housework and cook
what they want. Exploitation of young girls is a common
occurrence in Cameroon. Before they take leave, women who
are menopausal apply a ritual to her for a safe journey.
They put a rooster on her head. The journey must be dangerous
considering Fortuna, two men and the broker are all riding
on a small motorcycle. There is no childhood for girls as
we know it in Cameroon. The film was only 27 minutes, but
you wanted it to go on longer: the humour and audacity.
3.3-- TANGO
NEGRO, Dom Pedro
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A rich revelation into the origins and historical development
of Black Tango -- an infectious genre of music which seems
to have taken root in Argentina. Transformed into various
rhythmic idiosyncrasies from Africa and Cuba to Latin America,
this music-filled documentary is a tantalizing taste into
the instrumental and vocal reincarnations and debates into
the truth about tango's first beats in the world. Tango
is not Argentina's rightful claim to ownership -- it's more
like usurpation with modern-day modification.
3.3-- EXPEDITION
GRAND RIFT, Loïc & Geoffrey
de la Tullaye
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A stunning documentary in which two young French filmmakers
take a journey following a watery trail from China to Tanzania
to Israel to interview scientists, locals and nomadic peoples
to shed light on the cycle of rivers and the dependency
we all have on water. The forests and villages that surround
these regions play their own role and we learn of these
unique relationships. A dynamic documentary that turns the
topic of water into a natural resource that is as prized
as glistening gold. Will there be enough water 40 years
from now? This quest also exposes issues that threaten our
most vital resource. Not a dry delivery by any means, the
directors overflow with enthusiasm humour and audacity.
Beautiful to view, this important 26-minute film is timeless
in content and message.
3.5--
RWANDA, LENQUÊTE MANIPULÉE,
Catherine Lorsignol & Ogukuooe
Brewaeys
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A complicated documentary that tries to uncover a French
cover-up. It claims France was responsible for instigating
the Tutsi genocide with the issue starting when Hutu's President
Habyarimana was assassinated in 1994; his plane was blown
up and the black box was not made public; France claimed
it was never found. The Hutu started killing and historical
tensions exploded. Where did the seeds of the Rwandan genocide
begin and how? Many politicians are interviewed, and the
film illustrates the consequences of French and Belgian
governmental complicity that led to the genocide starting
with Hutu revenge on the Tutsi. A riveting documentary that
finally examines the massive brutality; the scale weighs
heavily on French culpability.
4.0--
VIE PIGMENTÉE, Vic Sarin
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Canadian documentary filmmaker Vic Sarin returns to Brazil
where he feels accepted being of India decent, and having
spent much of his adulthood there. He claims that the music
and dance that defines everyone's life there really brings
all people together -- regardless of skin colour. He is
married to a white. However, in the interviews he conducts,
he discovers that colorism exists there -- that skin colour
with various shades in between black and white can determine
one's acceptance and rise in society. He travels to Jamaica,
Philippines and Tanzania -- where albinos are killed by
witch doctors for their body parts that go into potions
to make others rich. Vicky, a black female journalist from
Dar es Salaam, goes to Gambush in north-western Tanzania
to investigate. She finds witch doctors -- two of whom admit
to using body parts. These witch doctors are in demand,
and their service used by policemen, religious people and
ordinary people who buy into the myth of white and richness.
Then there's South Africa that at one time had five different
systems for classifying one's colour that was legally enforced
and implemented the second one was born. Prejudice still
resides in that country today. Clearly, no matter which
country he travels to, it's revealed via old film clips
interviews of whites, blacks and shades in between that
colour discrimination exists world-wide and is far more
prevalent than he wishes to believe. Poignant past and present-day
examples are vividly illustrated by the women and men he
interviews. One Filipino woman started her own whitening
cosmetic and surgery company. Within family, the darker
child suffers because of poor treatment by parents and siblings.
Even the filmmaker recalls that within his own family, his
mother urged him not go out in the sun. In India dark skin
was not desirable, and the class system was rigidly based
on colour as well. The filmmaker knew his first marriage
broke up because he wanted to prove to his white colleagues
he was equal to them behind the camera. He totally neglected
his first wife and son. His honesty is compelling. When
he moved to Toronto in the 1960s, he even gave up his vegetarian
habits to be accepted by his white friends. Colourism is
a worldwide rampant evil where people are judged by their
skin colour -- devalued and dehumanized.
2.3--
RUMOURS OF WAR, Sussaba
Cissé
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Twenty-six-year-old Soulymane Touré is married, but his
wife is raped by Tuareg rebels when the couple is ambushed
outside. Soulymane used to be a radio reporter in the North
(Timbuktu) and was attacked by terrorists having been accused
of inciting the youth to the rebel side. Now she is a sex
slave in warring northern Mali. He curses Mali for having
given so much to his country, but there is no hope. Still,
he wants to return to help. A discussion between men reveals
their love of country but their despair that nothing is
being done and that there is no leadersip. Even ECOWAS has
been failure. Founded i 1975, its mission is to promote
economic integration in all fields of economic activity,
particularly industry, transport, telecommunications, energy,
agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary and financial
development, as well as social and cultural matters. It
has proven useless, as it is controlled by the French, so
no aid ever reaches the North. The film is a discussion
between men and women who delve into topics of treachery,
indifference, cowardice and humanitarian causes, such as
aid that never reaches the refugees. It gives us information
on the plight of Malians. Soulymane enters a nightclub and
makes a ruckus about the North -- insulting the club-goers
for wasting time dancing instead of fighting for Mali. He
is arrested, as his ID papers are not on him. He calls them
police thugs, pigs and druggies. He remains defiant. He
spends the night in jail, and must pay a hefty fine to obtain
his release. A friend pays it. A sorry state of affairs
in a realistic but slow-moving film lightened by great music
which features at the end a club singer whose message says
Mali will never be divided -- a plea to unite for sure.
The comedian at the end turns the tables making it funny.
At this point, Soulymane takes the mike, stating every young
man must fight against the terror in the North, He announces
he is going there.
2.4--
MALAGASY MANKANY, Haminiaina
Ratovoarivony
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Three young people are together in a car. The young Indian
girl, Charu, is pregnant; she has no money; Bob is with
her because he likes her, so he's tagged along. He met Charu
at the bus station before they all climbed in the car to
get a lift from Dylan, the driver who is racist. Jimi, a
scholarship student, was picked up at the bus station by
Dylan, his rich stand-offish friend. He is taking Jimi to
see his dad who is sick. Dylan must drive over 500 to reach
the destination. Dylan is on the run. H has just killed
a rich Indian man in his house and robbed him of millions.
The car radio is turned on every hour so he can hear the
news. A young boy saw Dylan leaving the crime scene, so
Dylan is nervous. Charu is the da'ghter of the murdered
man, but no one knows this. She doesn't know Dylan did it.
In fact, they "get it on.' They have all made a bet that
each will have Charu. Each has a different motive for taking
the trip, but seedy scenes unfold against a verdant setting
in the back roads of the island -- now full of road blocks.
Dylan's fate is sealed and it's his road trip buddies who
discover what transpired in the murder -- all videotaped
in the camera in the trunk. Dylan says: "This is a country
of no rules," and this movie shows how manipulation is the
modus operandi in Madagascar -- at least from the director's
seat, who interestingly enough now lives in Chicago. This
Madagascar movie is interesting. Comments about corruption
and monopolies seep into every facet of life according to
the story and characters. A cyclone has hit the island and
the radio is making a plea for the rich Indian community
to donate. Clearly, the lines of race are drawn here: the
film illustrates conflicts between the well-heeled Indians
and the poor Malagasies. Dylan ends up a hero, and the others
rise to their own heroic destinies. The acting made it all
seem real.
2.3--
O GRAND KALIPY, Zézé
Gamboa
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
La Maison des étudiants de L'Empire in Lisbon was formed
to keep bright African students from stirring up political
problems and integrating. They were watched diligently by
the police. The MPLA (resistance movement) was active; it
comprised the Ambundu ethnic group and the educated intelligentsia
of Luanda, the capital of Congo. In 1960 up until 1974,
Portuguese colonization in Angola brought evil and opportunity.
One of the better vehicles that drove the dramatic change
for Angola was letting students study abroad in Portugal
and Brazil. The film however does not weave in a stirring
manner this political backdrop with the personal aspects,
and the overall dual themes create a diffuse landscape,
and tension is lost. The plot is huge, and is worthy of
being told. João Fraga from Luanda in Congo, is one such
student. He comes from wealth and is accepted by high society.
He's classy and confident. The film vividly shows how a
bright engineering student is accused of being a Don Juan
with White women (which he is -- he has a white lover, Carmo
-- daughter of a Minister. She pays him for sexual favours
and more). He also makes a play for Rita -- his best friend's
girlfriend. She only has eyes for Rui, her boyfriend. He
brings both to a seaside house that one imagines Carmo has
paid for. He meets Lola, a high class club lady -- a stripper
and he starts up with her. Carmo follows them and she intentionally
hits João with her car. One day in the countryside, he is
stopped by the police and Lola's car is the one he's driving.
He says she's his wife The best scene is inside a Fado club.
We hear a Fado singer and Rui sings too. He is also great.
Rui has deserted from army training, and makes a getaway
with his best friend helping him. He will go to France.
Maybe, he'll do Fado there. Meanwhile back with the main
plot: Lola is visited by João and the cops are there. Lola
works for the head cop, but she feels bad about it all.
João is taken in. Rui's photo is shown to João and he refuses
to tell the cops he knows him. They beat him. He returns
to Luanda and works in a travel agency. His father is angry
that his son has wasted his future, but gets him a job at
the ministry in the finance department. He embezzles, and
with the money, acquires a vintage car and a new girlfriend
named Mitó -- all the while generously supporting the illegal
MPLA and a soccer club with his money. His friends are black
and white. The narrator telling this entire story comments
that it is inconceivable that this insignificant man living
in a white milieu has dared to have a white lover. The biggest
surprise is the discovery that his own father is sympathetic
to the MPLA. One night at a nightclub, this multi-womanizer
-- he takes up with his childhood girlfriend (father of
the man who sold him his new car, cheats on her) is arrested.
The old cop from Lisbon is back. However, rumours circulate
that Joäo is actually an undercover agent trying to infiltrate
the MPLA. He becomes very powerful, but his childhood gal's
father brings in the cops and he is put in jail. Finally,
Angola gets independence, and the hero is freed. The film
did not focus on anything intense. The director is a documentary
filmmaker, but this biopic failed to move us.
3.3--
VIVRE, Maharaki
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
An adorable short from which features Thomas in his classroom
in Guadeloupe daydreaming about what he wants to be after
his teacher asks the students. His imaginary journey takes
him from being a drug dealer to an astronaut. The superb
editing and humour make this production from France a winner.
1.1--
DAKAR TROTTOIRS, Hubert
Laba Ndao
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Salla and her ruffian boyfriend Siirou are subject to the
threat of Blinky, a man taking over the girls of the neighbourhood
that the violent Siirrou 'protects.' Siirou ends up killing
him and together the pair flee to the protection of Padre,
her older friend. While taking refuge there, Salla drops
her ring, given to her by this man when she was young. She
discovers her misfortune once back in her home -- without
Siirou. She returns to this man and they make love. She
wishes to marry him; he's a good man. Siirou robs an old
man in his apartment and beats him up. He buys drugs. He
kills in order to find his girlfriend who by now is with
Padre. Siirou has not only lost her but his sanity. Poor
Padre is killed by him and Salla sees it all. The streets
and sidewalks of Dakar (Senegal) are full of treachery and
hopelessness. It seems women have the worst of it -- always
needing to fend off the overtures of men or in need of their
protection. Murder, depravity and confusion constitute this
sorry film. A bad film all round, but the acting was tolerable.
1.3--
SOLEILS, Olivier
Delhave & Dani Kouyaté
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
The daughter of a 16th-century king seems to suffer from
a lack of identity and depression. The king summons his
healer who is the girl's uncle. He's also a great story
teller. He tells stories that have messages, and illustrates
them by going back in time. Together, the wise man takes
her into various scenes where philosophers, liars and personages
throughout history engaged in slavery and other evil deeds.
This film says the sun has three locations, material, vocal
and living creatures of sweetness. I did not understand
the ramblings of disconnected scenes that seem to deal with
different comedic farces and tales of deceit between villagers.
Lies and truth were obsessively, yet gently referred to
in these various vignettes. Nelson Mandela even came up
in topic and scene. As morals and men of history are revealed,
the healer takes his niece to Ouagadougou, Le Cap, Robben
Island, Berlin, Mali and Belgium. A total Burkino-Faso/France
screw-up, yet the philosopher/healer/story teller was enlightened,
and he held our interest. The music was great, but the acting
was more theatrical than cinematic in delivery.
3.7--
HORIZON BEAUTIFUL, Stefan
Jäger
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A gorgeous film about an orphan boy whose dream is to go
to Barcelona and train properly for soccer. Even his school
does not have any soccer. He hears Franz Arnold, a superstar
recruiter from Switzerland is going to be in Addis Abeba
to watch some players. He is totally disinterested, nasty
and heartless; he despises the people. That little boy tracks
him down but arranges for a fake kidnapping by a gang of
teens, but the gang seriously wants to kidnap him for money.
The kid follows Frnaz as he escapes from the thugs. He ends
up jumping into a garbage truck and the little fellow jumps
too. Franz has passed out. He has a heart condition. Together,
they trudge through the backwoods of Ethiopia. The journey
is one of discovery for them both. This heartwarming film
offers the unexpected with an ending full of sadness and
success. The acting was superb, and the little boy is not
really an actor, yet he stole the entire movie; his range
of emotions was incredible.
3.5--
C'EST EUX LES CHIENS,
Hicham Lasri
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Majhoul has been in prison for 30 years and is freed in
2011. There is a huge demonstration going on in the central
square of Casablanca in which he gets caught up -- it's
the 1981 grand strike all over again. Majhoul is accosted
by a reporter and his camera man. They try to get him to
stay and talk in the camera, but he's a highly stubborn
and taciturn fellow; he refuses to talk. He's very disoriented
after being a prisoner for so long. All he wants is to find
his wife and children once more. The reporter and his cameraman
keep him in the car, driving around, promising they will
help him find his wife, but first he must be interviewed.
They woo him by feeding him, buying him a wheel for his
son's bike which he never lets go of. Bit by bit, the puzzle
of Majhoul's life unfolds and as it does his wife -- now
remarried is fianlly located. His son now a bitter adult
disowns him, insulting him. He tells him never to come back.
By dropping in on old friends, knocking on wrong doors and
revisiting old haunts, Majhoul terminates his quest. The
reporter and cameraman have become his best friends. This
heartwarming and often funny film offers frenetic camera
movement that imitates the fractured memory and mind of
the film's poor hero in search of his family. Reality hits
Majoul at the end of the film, and for the first time he
addresses the camera directly; he says a true sentence about
the beginning of his life. "I was born in Casablanca in
1950." The film ends there. You either love or hate this
film which does go on too long, but as we follow Majihoul,
his strange behaviour and dogged determination to find his
family become part of our life too; we begin to wish we
were tagging along helping him.
0.0 --
IMINIG, Menad Embarek
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Moussa and his wheel-chair-bound mother live in total solitude
on the shore of some Algerian town. Their only escape is
the sea they sit in front of -- as seen in the closing scene
in this depressing film. They dream of getting out of their
terrible existence in a land where Moussa's dad met his
end through Islamic terrorists. That part of this short
was referenced in a line only. Who could imagine that the
20-minutes that snail along in this short could be interminably
long and oh so boring!
2.2--
LA LEÇON D'ANGLAIS, Sophie
Robert
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
In this 18 min. short, a young Mauritian couple try to get
accepted to immigate to Canada, but they can't speak English
and that is the reason they aren't accepted. The young wife
Lakshimi gets a job taking care of a little rich white girl
named Victoria. They really get along and Victoria begins
to teach her English. The wife ends up giving her husband
some classes too. They research London, England, and the
film ends with them on the airplane. Evidently, it's a happy
landing for them both.
1.5--
FAMILY SHOW, Pascal
Lahmani
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A rather ridiculous story passing off as presenting an entertaining
comedic plot. The story involves two neighbouring families
whose kids are friends though the parents aren't. This is
due in part to one of the grandfather's ongoing philandering
with the neighbor -- but he's dead now; his ashes are carried
around by his old heavy daughter -- even on stage when the
two families become rivals on a dance TV show called, Family
Show. Differences are solved though when they join forces
to beat out a rather nasty rival team. The stage dancing
is silly and it goes on far too long. The little girl who
is the force behind getting her family on the show in the
first place and who directs them as she dances is a darling
actor, but even this petite dame's talent can't save this
facile movie whose entertainment value wears thin after
they all hit the stage of Family Show.
2.3
-- AYA DE
YOPOUGON, Marguerite Abouet
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
An amusing feature animation that gives us an inside glimpse
into Yopo City, a working-class neighbourhood in Abidjan
in the Ivory Coast. Everyone is sleeping around, yet no
one knows what is really going on until secrets are revealed.
Aya is the main character who ends up with no one, but her
friend becomes pregnant. She is the daughter of an employee
at the city's beer company. She pretends the big shot owner's
son Moussa is the true father of her unborn son. But when
the baby is born, it becomes clear that the little guy bears
no resemblance to Moussa, but instead, looks just like the
neighbour who sports a huge afro -- just like the baby has
-- chaos ensues. The music and colourful drawing capture
the refreshing spirit of the town. The animation brims with
details that add entertainment value to the otherwise silly
plot substance. (This film opened Montreal's 2014 Vues d"Afrique
Festival - celebrating its 30th anniversary this year).
![Canadian Tire Repair Scam [2211 boul Roland-Therrien, Longueuil] = documents-proofs](../2010_v9_n5/images/mapleleaf.jpg)
