Le Président

Credits

Name: Le Président

Country: Kamerun

Year of publication: 2013

Format: DVD

Color: color

Language : OF franz. m. engl. UT

Duration: 64 Minuten

Direction: Bekolo, Jean-Pierre

Abstract

Jean-Pierre Bekolo’s latest feature, LE PRÉSIDENT, deals with despotic rulers who name themselves “president for life”. After decades in power, a dictator (Gérard Essomba) who has grown bored and tired of his duties suddenly and surprisingly leaves the presidential palace one day, embarking on a journey through “his” country, learning from various people, including a rapper, what they really think of him. The references to Bekolo’s homeland of Cameroon, which has been ruled since 1982 by the autocratic Paul Biya, are obvious. The real-life regime responded testily to the film when it was shown at the 2013 Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou. After his attempt to stage an informal screening for friends and journalists, Bekolo observed that “many people were afraid to even watch the film”. The film seems to touch on a taboo, namely: “The taboo of imagining the day when the regime loses its power.”