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Ivory Coast / All works

Cinema

In the Name of Christ

Au nom du Christ

Roger Gnoan M'Bala · 1993

Synopsis

In a small Ivorian village lives Magloire, a swineherd whom everyone despises. One day, after drinking too much, he falls into the river and receives a vision: a child God chooses him to save his people. He returns to the village proclaiming himself Magloire I, “cousin of Christ”, and sets about converting the inhabitants by means of a theology of his own invention and staged miracles.

Context

The director wrote the screenplay with the writer Jean-Marie Adiaffi and Bertin Akaffou, according to the São Paulo International Film Festival; the film, shot in colour on 35 mm, was produced by Amka Films. Pierre Gondo plays Magloire, alongside Naky Sy Savané and Akissi Delta. allAfrica sees it as a satire of religious syncretism, and the New York African Film Festival as an ironic fable about religion in Africa.

Who it is for

A feature film of about an hour and a half, in French, which is part fable and part grating comedy.

Prizes and reception

Étalon de Yennenga at the Fespaco of 1993, the second won by Ivory Coast, and the youth prize at the Locarno festival.

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