Night of the Kings, directed by Phillipe Lac?te

As I watched the films for the 2021 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA), I had hoped that Night of the Kings would be included in the Film, Not in the English language category. But sadly, it was not! Nevertheless, it is a hot contender for the 2021 Oscars.

Night of the Kings (La Nuit des Rois) is a celebration of storytelling, written and directed by the Ivorian filmmaker, Phillipe Lac?te. It premiered at the 77th Venice International Film Festival and won the Amplify Voices award at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. It is also the official submission of C?te d’Ivoire for Best International Feature Film category of the 93rd Academy Awards.

The film is set in C?te d’Ivoire’s La MACA prison, where the prisoners, led by the ‘Dang?ro’, run affairs and the guards have little control. As the Dang?ro weakens from illness, he declares the Night of Roman and appoints a young, new inmate as ‘Roman’ – the prison storyteller. Per prison tradition, the newcomer must tell any story he chooses until dawn, in order to stay alive.

The film wanders into the realm of fantasy through Roman’s embellished account of the life and adventures of a local gangster called the Zama King in a style very reminiscent of the griots, West African custodians of oral tradition. Roman’s tale captivates the other inmates who feature as chorus, dancers and play-actors at intervals, transforming the prison to a stage.

You can watch an interview with Phillipe Lac?te at the virtual TIFF 2020, where he speaks about the inspiration for the story: a friend of his was coming out of jail and told him about a prisoner in “charge of storytelling.” He thought it was a great idea for a film!

The director also shared what the Black Lives Matter movement means to him:

“I follow the Black Lives Matter movement, and support it as everyone should, but I see my work as being part of a different debate. What is important for me is to make films that are true to what Africa is today, presenting a positive, modern vision. I want to show it in its modernity, rather than locked up in old imagery. In between making Run and Night Of The Kings, I worked on the series Slavery Routes for Arte, exploring the history of slavery from the 7th to 19th century. It made me realise the African fight to exist and participate in the world is the same fight as the descendants of slaves – it’s the same story”.

The film is reminiscent of the art and act of storytelling. “What interests me”, said the director, “is how storytelling can save people from violence”. For casting, he went to the popular neighbourhood of Abidjan and found Kone Bakary, who plays Roman, along with many other newcomers to the screen.

This is the second feature film from Phillipe Lac?te whose first feature film, Run (2014), was shown at Cannes Film Festival.

Night of the Kings is a Canadian co-production, shot by the Quebec born cinematographer Tobie Marier Robitaille. If like me you have seen City of God and Gomorrah, then watch the film trailer here and add Night of the Kings to the list of films to watch. Let us hope an Ivorian director will bring an Oscar to Africa in 2021!

About Parminder Vir OBE

Parminder Vir OBE has dedicated herself to positively impacting and transforming lives through a professional career spanning 40 years in philanthropy, entrepreneurship, film and television production, arts and culture, and investment funding. She is the co-founder of the Support4AfricaSMEs campaign and The African Farmers Stories, launched in 2020. She served as the CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, based in Lagos, Nigeria from April 2014 to April 2019. Prior to joining the Foundation, Parminder has enjoyed a distinguished career as an awarding winning film and television producer and private equity investor in film and media.