Democratic Republic of the Congo / All works
Cinema
Perle noire
Joseph Kumbela · 1994
Synopsis
Roland, an unemployed man, has married a young and beautiful African woman, Blandine, whom he calls his black pearl. Up to his ears in debt, and attached above all else to his vintage car, he finds a way to pay what he owes and to maintain the object of his pride: he forces his wife into prostitution. The short film follows Blandine caught in this trade, between the husband who sells her and the madam for whom she works, in the tone of a dramatic comedy.
Context
This twenty-seven-minute short film, shot on 35 mm and in colour, is one of its author's first films as director: the African Film Festival in New York places Entre-deux, dated 1992, before it. It was followed by three short films, in 1996 and 1998, about Africans in Paris and Beijing. Africultures links it to the Republic of the Congo, Allociné to Zaire. It is distributed by Les Films de là-bas.
Who it is for
A short film, in French, of less than half an hour; its subject, forced prostitution, makes it suitable for an adult audience only.
Prizes and reception
The film appears in the entries of Africultures and Allociné, but no press review of it has been found.