“Tell me a story.” This is the command that Roman (Bakary Koné), a new arrival at La Maca penitentiary — a forest-borne fortress just outside of the Ivory Coast’s capital, Abidjan — is given almost as soon as he arrives. It’s quite a welcome. Dismissed by the prison’s guards for the gang affiliations that landed him here, Roman is thrown into the “jungle,” as the guards call it. And as soon as he arrives, everything else stops. Another inmate, the feminine Sexy (Gbazi Yves Landry), has just been knocked to the ground,...
- 3/10/2021
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
"When the red moon comes out tonight, you will tell us stories." Neon has unveiled an official US trailer for the outstanding Ivory Coast film Night of the Kings, which has been playing at every major festivals since last fall. It first premiered at the Venice, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals (read our review here), and is playing at the Sundance Film Festival this week (hence the trailer). The film follows a young man who enters the infamous (and real) "La Maca" prison, a highly secure facility in the middle of Ivory Coast's forest ruled by its prisoners. With the red moon rising, he is designated by the Boss to be the new "Roman" and must tell a story to the other prisoners. It's a film about a storyteller, and how stories move us and inspire. Bakary Koné stars as the night's "Roman", and Steve Tientcheu plays "Blackbeard", with Jean Cyrille Digbeu,...
- 1/29/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Writer/director Philippe Lacôte looks to tell a tale of the Ivory Coast and its most recent two decades of civil war and strife with his latest film Night of the Kings. With that also comes a necessity to speak about the youth who’ve recently taken up residence within the confines of his setting: La MacA. This prison—whose under-thirty population is currently hovering around eighty percent—shifts between the horrors of its inherent violence and the magical fantasy conjured when Lacôte was a boy visiting his mother (a political prisoner) in its open courtyard traversed by inmates, guards, and outsiders alike. He thought then that it reminded him of a kingdom. To a child its social ladder would seem more fairy tale than feudal.
He therefore creates MacA as a world unto itself—an easy concept considering it was built in the middle of a forest and thus isolated from its surroundings.
He therefore creates MacA as a world unto itself—an easy concept considering it was built in the middle of a forest and thus isolated from its surroundings.
- 9/10/2020
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Film is second feature from Ivorian director Philippe Lacôte after ’Run’.
Paris-based sales company Memento Films International (Mfi) has acquired Ivorian director Philippe Lacôte’s Night Of The Kings, ahead of its world premiere in Horizons at the Venice Film Festival, running September 2-12 this year.
The Scheherazade-style tale revolves around a young pickpocket who is locked up with a bunch of hardened criminals in the notoriously violent, real-life MacA prison in the Ivorian capital of Abidjan.
In a ritual imposed by a powerful convict, who is regarded as the prison boss, he is nominated to tell stories to...
Paris-based sales company Memento Films International (Mfi) has acquired Ivorian director Philippe Lacôte’s Night Of The Kings, ahead of its world premiere in Horizons at the Venice Film Festival, running September 2-12 this year.
The Scheherazade-style tale revolves around a young pickpocket who is locked up with a bunch of hardened criminals in the notoriously violent, real-life MacA prison in the Ivorian capital of Abidjan.
In a ritual imposed by a powerful convict, who is regarded as the prison boss, he is nominated to tell stories to...
- 7/28/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦69¦
- ScreenDaily
Prophecy and politics are intertwined in a realm where strange and beautiful imagery takes on dark meaning, and violence and male posturing rules all. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Ivory Coast hasn’t had much of a film industry over the past nearly 20 years of civil unrest, political upheaval, and outright war; I’m pretty sure I’d not previously seen an Ivorian film at all. But it is getting a bit of resurgence thanks to a single movie, Run, the first narrative feature from Ivorian filmmaker Philippe Lacôte, which debuted at Cannes last year in the prestigious Un Certain Regard section and was recently named as the nation’s submission for next year’s Best Foreign Language Oscars category; this is only the second time Ivory Coast has made such a submission, and...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Ivory Coast hasn’t had much of a film industry over the past nearly 20 years of civil unrest, political upheaval, and outright war; I’m pretty sure I’d not previously seen an Ivorian film at all. But it is getting a bit of resurgence thanks to a single movie, Run, the first narrative feature from Ivorian filmmaker Philippe Lacôte, which debuted at Cannes last year in the prestigious Un Certain Regard section and was recently named as the nation’s submission for next year’s Best Foreign Language Oscars category; this is only the second time Ivory Coast has made such a submission, and...
- 11/4/2015
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Côte d'Ivoire native Philippe Lacôte is making his feature film debut with a project titled Run, which was one of 15 projects selected for the Cannes L’Atelier - an initiative which runs during the Cannes Film Festival aimed at finding financing for projects by upcoming directors that are in an advanced state of development - last year (2012), when it first showed up on my radar. The film's starring cast includes Isaach de Bankole (likely the most familiar to American audiences; he's currently starring in Andrew Dosunmu's Mother Of George), Abdoul Karim Konate (he stars in Bamba Souleymane's Burn It Up Djassa) and Rasmane Ouedraogo (the...
- 9/27/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.