Wednesday, October 17th
7:30PM
Maysles Cinema
MAKI'LA
Dir. Machérie Ekwa Bahango
Narrative, 2018, 78 Min.
Lingala & French, w/ English subtitles
Nineteen-year-old Maki’la, nicknamed Maki, has been living on the streets since she was 13, and has long been friends with young hoodlum Mbingazor, who has become the boss of a criminal gang. The two end up getting married; however, the relationship is founded on exploitation and violence and soon leaves Maki feeling trapped. She manages to escape and goes into hiding, when she meets Acha, a 12-year-old who has recently wound up on the streets herself after losing her parents. Soon the two forge a close bond, though Mbingazor, angrier than ever, is close behind.
Born in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1993, Machérie Ekwa Bahango got her start in filmmaking by learning the basics from online videos. It was serendipitous when Alain Gomis travelled to Kinshasa to film Félicité (2017), and Bahango was hired as a translator. Her training on set led her to pursue her own directorial dreams, and she hopes to inspire other young women in the Congo to pursue the arts.