Bärbel Mauch Film

Christian, Ben and Jean-Marie are fighting for political change of power and free elections in their country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But the incumbent President refuses to relinquish power. How can the course of events be changed? Must they join forces with the historical opposition leader and his powerful party? Is dialogue still possible or must they resign themselves to a popular uprising and the risk of a blood bath?

Christine is head of the financial department at the Kintambo maternity ward. Her job is to ensure that all patients have paid the hospital fees. Rémy is CEO of one of the largest mining companies in the country. His penchant for women will tarnish his relationship with his family, particularly his 12-year-old son. Muknya, a night taxi driver, dreams of reaching the Schengen area but circumstances do not make his task easy. Viya, who has just lost her father unexpectedly, will cross paths with each other.

The death of a Burkinabé family’s patriarch and the division of his estate unearths conflict between his heirs and larger questions about inheritance, belonging and the communal customs of West Africa versus Westernized courts.

In The Colonial Misunderstanding Jean-Marie Teno sheds light on the complex and problematic relationship between colonization and European missionaries on the African continent. The film looks at Christian evangelism as the forerunner of European colonialism in Africa, indeed, as the ideological model for the relationship between North and South even today.

Rodrigue and Reine live with their three children in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. They make their living from a meager yield of cassava flour and are very active in the local church, where the battle between God and Satan is central, and believing in evil spirits, curses and witchcraft is common.

Jean Remy is a Haitian man struggling to find employment in Dominican Republic. Confronted with rejection and discrimination in the city, he sets off to try his luck in the countryside. Imbued with a naturalistic grace, this deeply sympathetic portrait speaks eloquently to the trials of humanity.