PROGRAM 2 Sunday April 27th at 3:30 pm at the Maysles Documentary Center
Post-screening discussion
Moderator:
Joseph Pomp, film critic and scholar.
Producer:
Arnold Setohou, Producer NEW DIRECTION FILMS (Cotonou/Bénin) (Mon vélo)
Filmmakers:
Winners of Lycée Français rough-cut festival 2025
Sita Bella
Eugenie Metala
Cameroun
2023, 30 minutes
An anonymous grave between those of her parents, a rundown cinema in the premises of the Ministry of Arts and Culture, this is what remains as signs of the passage of Sita Bella on Earth. And yet she was the first woman journalist, the first Cameroon's airliner pilot, one of the first filmmakers in Africa whose film ‘Tam Tam in Paris’ was selected at the first edition of Fespaco in 1969.
To pay tribute to this exceptional woman is the challenge of this work of a young director Eugénie Metala under the supervision of Jean Marie Teno.
Kin My Beautiful
Junior Moses
Democratic Republic of the Congo
2022, 8 minutes
Walking through Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic republic of the Congo.In its grandeur, in its ugliness and in its ardor, beautiful Kinshasa, which is my beautiful, is where my daily life comes to life, through its atmosphere, through its luminance.
Merlich, Merlich
Hannit Ghilas
France
2024, 19 minutes
Karim learns of his grandfather’s death and the family begins funeral preparations. While retrieving forgotten coffee with his cousin Myriam, a car accident occurs. Karim stages a theft to cover it up, but his younger brother Idriss blackmails them. Myriam finds a solution.
Mon Vélo
Francky Tohouegnon
Bénin
2023, 12 minutes
Oumar, a 12-year-old boy, yearns for a bike. His father promises to give him one if he comes top of his class. When his school results are announced, stress overwhelms him and plunges him into a frightening dream in which his brand-new bike is stolen. Determined, he teams up with his best friend, Comlan. Together, they set a clear goal: to find the bike at all costs before his father discovers it's missing.
Winners of Rough-cut Festival 2025
Lycée Français
New York City
2025, 15 minutes