"We, students!", by Rafiki Fariala, "the first Central African film at the Berlinale"

Rafiki Fariala, Central African director of “We students!

“, presented in world premiere at the Berlinale 2022. © Siegfried Forster / RFI

Text by: Siegfried Forster Follow

7 mins

The Berlinale, one of the most important cinema events in the world, has presented its prize list, but the festival continues until February 20.

The

section shows the first Central African film ever presented at the Berlin International Film Festival and indeed highly acclaimed by the public.

Interview with Rafiki Fariala, 24, on “We, students!

», a very successful dive into the campus of the University of Bangui.

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Rafiki Fariala

It's really a way of asserting ourselves.

It's a way of saying: we are here, we young students at the University of Bangui.

During your last film,

, presented in 2019 at Fipadoc, you told us that most people do not even know how to find the Central African Republic (CAR) on the map.

With your selection at the Berlinale 2022, do you feel that you have put Central African cinema on the international cinema map

I affirm it.

There has never been a Central African film at the Berlinale.

This is the first time that a film from the Central African Republic has screened at the Berlin International Film Festival.

For us, it's a way to highlight Central African culture even more and to index it even more by saying: we, students from the Central African Republic, we are here and we present ourselves internationally.

We show our culture to the whole world.

► 

Your film begins with a large shot of the eyes of a student who is going to sing a song for us.

What could you read in the eyes and the heart of this young person

Presenting this eye is presenting ourselves and saying: look at this innocent eye, this young eye which is looking for where to present itself, where to affirm itself, to present its youthful innocence.

And tell his dreams, his ambitions, his hopes, his difficulties.

What does it mean to be a student at the University of Bangui?

Everything is in this look, behind the camera, and in front of the camera.

“We, students”, by Rafiki Fariala, presented at the Berlinale 2020. © Makongo Films

We students!

tackles many things

The film has no political purpose.

It's a film that talks about us, our daily lives, our dreams.

This does not prevent us from having difficulties in our lives.

Some teachers are almost always absent.

The young girls are harassed by certain teachers and cannot advance.

Boys can't approach girls at university, because girls are coveted by teachers and they have to (redo) the first year.

We sleep on the table-benches.

Professors are always absent, because they are badly paid and prefer to work in private universities.

Suddenly, we are stuck, but we try through this film to tell our daily life, despite the difficulties, despite the fact that we have only one university and that things are very difficult.

The Central African Republic has an area of ​​623,000 square kilometres, but at the university, we are crammed in like sardines, because there aren't enough tables-benches.

Despite everything, we still try to study and we say to ourselves: things have to move forward, we have to move forward, because it's not the old who are going to change things, but the youth.

So, we young people must be able to have the floor, have space, so that tomorrow we can build the country, in our own way.

► 

In your filmography, food holds an important place.

For example, there is this scene where a yogurt drops from the head of a traveling salesman in the intimacy of two young lovers sharing the yogurt in a very particular way.

What does this tell us about the mindset and behavior of young Central Africans

It really is our culture.

It also helps to show that we manage as young people, despite all the difficulties that we undergo at university and that we endure in the daily life of this country which has gone through many crises and political chaos.

We eat what we have.

We do with the means on board.

This yoghurt, for example, if they were young people doing high school or in a well-developed country or students with a lot of money, they might eat hamburgers with their girlfriend or their friends.

We do with what we have.

Yoghurt is to say: “that's us”.

It's our culture, it's what we eat.

It's our way of life.

It is our country that we value.

Abigaelle Benicia Mamadou and Aaron Koyasoukpengo in “We, Students”, by Rafiki Fariala, presented at the Berlinale 2020. © Makongo Films

Your film also tackles injustice ("

In the youth community, we will recognize each other, because it speaks to us.

It's our life.

I am also waiting for the words of the personalities, that they can recognize themselves and perhaps change things.

In the manner of this youth who hopes for a better future.

Of course, there are times when things are indexed in the university.

Is it going to be appreciated by the “big ones”?

Maybe not, but the film has no political aim or intention to attack or denounce.

It talks about us, our difficulties, our dreams and our hopes.

It's us !

► 

In the Central African Republic, will this film be seen more as a documentary or a fiction

It is a documentary film, even if there are scenes in the film which I have reproduced in the form of fiction.

For example, the scene with Aaron in the police station or the scene with Nestor at the market where he gets arrested by the police.

These are things that I cannot catch directly.

But that's still the reality that the same characters, my friends, really went through and experienced on the ground.

We have changed nothing, invented nothing.

Everything is the truth.

Where and how will your film be screened or shown in the Central African Republic

At the moment, the film is having its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, but this film must also be seen here.

My distributor is in charge of distributing the film.

It will surely be seen as part of Afro-European festivals that take place every year in Bangui.

And I would like this film to be screened at the University of Bangui, and, why not, in the presence of personalities from the university and the country.

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