Makala

Spoken: Swahili. Subtitles: English.

In a remote Congolese village, the young Kabwita works hard to offer his family a better future. While his wife looks after their children, Kabwita spends days felling trees to make a big batch of charcoal to sell in the town, 50 kilometers away. The only way for him to get there is on foot, over dusty hills, along dangerous roads, with an absurdly heavy load of charcoal sacks tied to his rickety bicycle. The journey seems endless, shown in a calm, observational style, in which director Emmanuel Gras constantly keeps the camera up close to his protagonist—resulting in a painfully honest representation of reality. The film won the 2017 Nespresso Grand Prize (Cannes 2017).