Cinema
Ironu
François Sourou Okioh · 1985
Synopsis
In the imaginary republic of Ijani, student protest ends in a wave of arrests. Ironu, one of the ringleaders, who ran a magazine, spends six months in prison, is expelled from the university and goes to finish his studies in France. A few years later, a coup overthrows the “father of the nation” and allows him to return. His former classmates have become ministers; one of them appoints him director of planning, and Ironu discovers the extent of the corruption he is asked to tolerate.
Context
A fable with savoury dialogue, the film sets its action at the turn of the sixties and seventies. The sets by Joseph Kpobly give it its plausibility; Gratien Zossou plays the title role, alongside Koffi Gahou, Akambi Akala, who later became director of cinematography of Benin, and Fidèle Ayikoué, who later headed the national radio and television. Produced by the company Afaja-Film and ninety-two minutes long, it is distributed by the International Organisation of La Francophonie, whose cassettes, digitised by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, have put it back into circulation.
Who it is for
For those interested in African political cinema and in the disillusionment that followed independence.
Prizes and reception
Long difficult to see, it has returned to screens thanks to a programme to digitise African films of the eighties.
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