Maki'la

Maki'la (2018)

Maki has been on the streets a long time and is married to Mbingazor, the gang’s boss. But at some point, the 19-year-old has had enough of this gang of boys, who are too busy getting high and drunk to do anything with themselves. Survival must be secured. The next time money for food runs out, Maki crosses paths with the much younger Acha. This newcomer is a fresh arrival in Kinshasa, and doesn’t yet know the rules. Spurred on by Acha’s beginner’s luck as a thief, the pair set off on an adventure together, which soon arouses Mbingazor’s jealousy.

Date of release
2018-02-17
Runtime
1h 18m
Genres
Drama
Director
Machérie Ekwa Bahango

Casting

Interesting facts

Maki’la depicts the rough life of street children in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is notable as the directorial debut of Machérie Ekwa Bahango and for using the Congolese language Lingala on the silver screen. It premiered at the Berlinale 2018.

Production

While working on the set of Félicité in Kinhasa as a translator for director Alain Gomis Bahango decided to make her first own film. On location she established a "special friendship" with some street children who told her their lives. Therefore, she wanted her film debut to "pay homage to them". She borrowed money from her family and hired mainly unexperienced young actors. Before they started filming they had rehearsals for several months.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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