HIBISCUS SEASON (animated short-film)
Synopsis: Zaire, January 1993. Rachel's family, an 8-year-old French girl, lives in Kinshasa in a house overlooking the Congo River. Following the usual routine (shopping, lunch, nap ...) the city is subjected to violent looting by Zairean soldiers. Luckily, Rachel's family escapes their violence. She, her mother and her sister take refuge at the French Embassy and wait for the events to calm down. In spite of the surrounding turmoil, Rachel explores in the gardens of the Embassy, arises a new universe and new emotions. The looting stops and Rachel finds her home and her daily life. In the discovery of bodies, of hers as of others, of life and death, of sensuality and fragility, Rachel remembers. She writes, she draws. The ghosts of Zaire resurface as she tries to tell ... and then forgets. Kinshasa received funds from SODEC and Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec (CALQ) for production (including scripting and writing and pre-production), as well as support from ACIC (NFB) for post-production.
Kinshasa is based on my childhood memories in Zaïre between 1993 and 1995.
Animation: Parissa Mohit, Kathleen Weldon, Éléonore Goldberg
Montage: Éléonore Goldberg, Stéphane Calce
Sound design and music: Stéphane Calce
Production: Embuscade Films (Nicolas Dufour-Laperrière)
Distribution: La Distributrice de films
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