On Saturday 26 March 2011 at 19h00<\/b> AfricAvenir Windhoek presents the movie, winner of the Silver Stallion at FESPACO 2007 \u201cLes Saignantes\u201d by Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Pierre Obama Bekolo at Studio 77 in Windhoek.nIn cooperation with Studio 77, Bank Windhoek Arts Festival, WhatsOnWindhoek, and the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre.<\/p>\n
Les Saignantes
By Jean-Pierre Bekolo Obama, 2005, Cameroon\/France,
French with English subtitles, 92 min.<\/b><\/p>\n
A short interview <\/b>with Jean-Pierre Bekolo Obama will be screened before the film.<\/p>\n
Date: 26 March 2011, Time: 19h00
Venue: Studio 77, Old Breweries Complex, entrance via Garten Str.
Entrance: 20,- N$<\/b><\/p>\n
About the film<\/b>
After eight years of absence, maverick Cameroonian director Jean-Pierre Bekolo Obama (\u201cQuartierMozart\u201d, \u201cAristotle\u2019s Plot\u201d) returned in 2005 with his magnum opus, \u201cLes Saignantes\/The Bloodettes\u201d, a superbly photographed, stylishly edited and tastefully scored film about two young femmes fatales who set out to rid a futuristic country of its corrupt and sexually obsessed powerful men. In this stylized sci-fi-action-horror hybrid, Majolie and Chouchou, exquisitely played by Ad\u00e8le Ado and Dorylia Calmel (both budding stars to look out for), navigate a sordid world where sex, money, politics and death are perniciously imbricated. Young, attractive, fashionable and lethal, they are on a mission to change the destiny of their country. But their task is made difficult by a formidable foe.nAlso embedded into the film is the Beti-ritual called Mevungu, which is traditionally performed by women\u2019s secret societies, only in times of deep social crisis. Africa and particularly Cameroon, says Bekolo, is facing such a deep social crisis that it was high time to perform this ritual.nRevealing in its display of excess, committed to aesthetics of \u201ccool\u201d, \u201cLes Saignantes\u201d is one of the first science fiction films to come out of Africa. It is a film with attitude, a film that poses questions about relationships between men and women, about the destiny of a continent, about the nature and future of cinema\u2026 The film nearly fell victim to censorship in Cameroon.nIn the film, Bekolo raises questions which are much broader than just the themes covered in the actual plot. \u201cHow can you make an anticipation film in a country that has no future? How can you make a horrorfilm in a place where death is a party? How can you make an action film in a country where acting is subversive? How can you film a love story in a society where love is impossible? How can you make a crime film in a country where investigation is forbidden? How can you watch a film like this and do nothing after?\u201d<\/p>\n
Director\u2019s Comment<\/b>
"There is a connection between the idea of human corruption and girls, because at an early age they have the experience \u2013 earlier than boys \u2013 of deciding that, although I don\u2019t love this person, he has something that I want, and I can sleep with him and get what I want. They feel this at an early age: sometimes thirteen, sometimes sixteen. They are under the pressures of competition; they have to be socially competitive. So, for me it was important to deal with corruption from that angle."<\/p>\n
Press<\/b>
\u201cAlong with the intertitles, the abundance of crooked politicians and the trading of sexual favors all point to Bekolo\u2019s radical political commentary, an aspect that has gotten the film into trouble with Cameroon\u2019s censorship board.\u201d<\/i> Marjorie Baumgarten, The Austin ChroniclenThe film critique Aboubacar Sanogo qualifies \u201eLes Saignantes \u201c as avantgarde in any sense of the term, particularly in its narrative methods and its approach. For him, the film symbolizes the birth of a \u00ab cin\u00e9ma du corps \u00bb (cinema of the body) in Africa as well as of an African science-fiction genres. The idea to stage two modern young women as the avengers of the whole continent against a corrupt political elite is just ingenious<\/i>, writes Sanogo.n\u201cIn his third feature film Bekolo remains faithful to his inclination towards provocation, mockery and social satire. (\u2026) With beautiful colours, fantastic actors\/actrices, \u201eLes Saignantes\/The Bloodettes\u201c is perhaps more magic than futuristic. More than once the action goes against any logic and rationale.\u201d <\/i>Francis Mbagna, written in the context of a workshop at the 10th Festival Ecrans Noirs, Yaound\u00e9. <\/p>\n
About the director<\/b>
Jean-Pierre Bekolo Obama was born in Cameroon in 1966 and currently lives in Paris and Johannesburg. He has made several short films including \u201cBoyo (1988), \u201cUn Pauvre blanc\u201d (1989), \u201cMohawk People\u201d (1990), \u201cLa grammaire de grand-mere\u201d (1996), and \u201cOriginal Sin Toronto\u201d (1998). nBekolo\u2019s debut feature film, \u201cQuartier Mozart\u201d<\/b>, received the Prix Afrique en Cr\u00e9ation at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. nHis second film \u201cAristotle\u2019s Plot\u201d<\/b> was one of several films commissioned by the British Film Institute to celebrate the 100th anniversary of cinema and included works by Martin Scorsese, Jean-Luc Godard, and Bernardo Bertolucci. nThen Bekolo released \u201cLes Saignantes\u201d<\/b>, which premiered at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival and won the Silver Stallion (2nd prize) and Best Actress Award at FESPACO 2007. nIn 2007 he made \u201cUne Africaine dans l\u2019espace\/An African woman in space\u201d<\/b> for the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris.nBekolo studied film semiotics under Professor Christian Metz in Paris and taught film for UNESCO, at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and Duke University.nIn 2009 he published the book \u201cAfrica For the Future \u2013 Sortir un noveau monde du cinema\u201d<\/b>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Saturday 26 March 2011 at 19h00 AfricAvenir Windhoek presents the movie, winner of the Silver Stallion at FESPACO 2007 \u201cLes Saignantes\u201d by Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Pierre Obama Bekolo at Studio 77 in Windhoek.nIn cooperation with Studio 77, Bank Windhoek Arts Festival, WhatsOnWindhoek, and the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre. Les SaignantesBy Jean-Pierre Bekolo Obama, 2005, Cameroon\/France, French…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-afrikanische-perspektiven","category-events"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n