Soeur Oyo by Monique Mbeka Phoba (RDC/BE, 2014, 23 min.)
In the colonial Belgian Congo of the 1950s, Godelive, a Congolese schoolgirl, lives at the Catholic boarding school of Mbanza-Mboma, the first school in French for Congolese girls. She is being westernised, following the wishes of her parents. But the memory of her grandmother prevents it.
Filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, decolonial speaker and web-journalist, Monique Mbeka Phoba has a mixed training profile since she holds a master’s degree in commercial and consular sciences at HEC Saint-Louis (Brussels) and a master’s degree in cinematographic writings of the Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD). In 1991, after an introductory internship at the Ateliers Varan, Monique Mbeka Phoba directed “Revue en vrac” (in co-production with Frédéric Mongu), a look at the birth of the independent and pluralistic press in Congo. Will follow several documentaries: “Rentrer?” (1993); “Deux petits tours et puis s’en vont” (1997, in co-realization with Emmanuel Kolawole); “Un rève d’independance” (1998); “Sorcière, la vie” (2004); “Entre la coupe et l’élection” (2007, co-directed with Guy Kabeya Muya). And finally, “Sister Oyo” (2014), her only fiction to date.
Director : Monique Mbeka Phoba
Image : Herman Bertiau, Max Vincent Fauvelle
Sound : Daniel Baeki
Image editing : Pieter De Naegel
Sound editing : Céline Pérréard
Music : Leyzin Mpoutou
Cast : Rosie Mayungi, Laura Verlinden, Jenovie Mabiala, Sidonie Madoki, Nganji, Laura Demanesse.
Production : Rumbacom scri (Belgique)
Coproduction : SUNPHENIX (RD Congo), RTBF (Belgique)
With the help of the Center for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and VOO, the VAF, the International Organization of La Francophonie, the Tax Shelter and the French Embassy in DR Congo, the Observatoire des Ba Yaya, 2Kongo Central / Belgium, Afrika Jamaa, L’Horloge du Sud, Maison du Livre in Saint-Gilles and TRK asbl.
Sister Oyo sparked 15 print, television and internet articles (including Jeune Afrique, Le Vif / L’Express, La Libre Belgique, Amina, Canal + Afrique, Mbo-Attitude, Clap Noir, AfricAvenir, Culturopoing, Ngambo na Ngambo , France 3 etc …); won 3 prizes in Paris (Festival Le Court en dit Long – Special Mention of the Prix Format Court), Louvain (Artist Award of the Afrikafilmfestival) and Toulouse (Audience Award of AfriClap); participated in several festivals. In 2014: 4 festivals, including Kinshasa, New York and Tunis (CINEF, Congo In Harlem, Cinéatographiques Days of Carthage). In 2015: 12 festivals, including Ouagadougou, Yaoundé, Paris and Berlin (Fespaco, Ecrans Noirs, Le Court en dit Long at the Center Wallonie-Bruxelles in Paris, Berlin was Best Shorts of Fespaco). In 2016: 11 festivals, including Ouagadougou, Cologne, Paris and Toulouse (Women’s Fespaco, FilmInitiativ, Cologne, AfriClap in Toulouse).