Jean-Pierre Bekolo

  • Jean-Pierre Bekolo – Quartier Mozart (1992)

    1991-2000African CinemaCameroonComedyJean-Pierre Bekolo

    Winner of the Prix Afrique en Creation at Cannes in 1992, this humorous and magical tale is filled with the sexual antics that enliven a working class neighborhood in Yaounde. A girl takes on the body of a man and learns the true sexual politics of the men around her. In addition, the woman who helps her achieve this transformation metamorphoses herself into Panka, a comic figure who can make a man’s penis disappear with a handshake.Read More »

  • Jean-Pierre Bekolo – Les Saignantes AKA The Bloodiest (2005)

    2001-2010FranceJean-Pierre BekoloSci-Fi

    Quote:
    A futuristic film set in a dystopian Cameroonian city vaguely reminiscent of the dystopian Los Angeles in Ridley Scott’s classic BladeRunner, Les Saignantes is shot in high contrast lighting in what seems to be one long continuous night. The throbbing bass soundtrack of the film underscores the pulse of its rapid, jump-cut, music-video style editing. The characterization of the future city is a pessimistic allegory of the contemporary nation in Africa. By the year 2025, nothing has progressed; rather the country is still ruled by abusive power-drunk leaders who promise contracts to their mistresses; the police still take bribes and have no authority to actually investigate the crimes of the rich and powerful. Near the end of the film the smooth woman’s voiceover, which has performed the narrator’s function throughout the film, intones “We were already dead.” Re-watching the film with these words in mind, one wonders if the film, set a few years ahead in the future in 2025, is not the portrait of the spiritual aftermath of nation that has already died.Read More »

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