One of the parallel sections of the Cannes Film Festival is the International Critics’ Week. It is known for its tradition of discovering new talents. It only selects seven feature films by directors from all over the world. Directors like Bernardo Bertolucci, Wong Kar-wai, Jacques Audiard, Francois Ozon and Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu have started their careers through the Critics’ Week.

This year’s award, called the Nespresso Grand Prize, went to Makala (2017), a non-fiction, documentary film by the French director Emmanuel Gras. Apparently, it is the first time that a documentary film was selected. I saw the movie just a few days ago and the images and thoughts called forth by the film keep pursuing me. Definitely for me the most impressive film of this week!

Makala is the story of a young family father in the Congolese countryside who decides to make charcoal in order to create a future for his family. He cuts down a huge tree, chops up the wood, covers it with earth to create a gigantic oven and then lights the wood. He puts the resulting charcoal into overstuffed bags and pushes his overloaded bicycle, walking next to it, more than 50 kilometers to the nearest city. There he sells it for a meagre profit to city people who all want to bargain and have no feel for his immense physical effort. He reinvests the little money he made in materials that he needs for his plan to build a larger home for his family. Before he leaves the city he visits a spirited church service, where everyone, in the same way as in the market place, seems to be on his own, crying out their individual need for help from God.

There is a lot of emphasis on showing the superhuman effort, both in the cutting down and chopping up of the tree, in the days-long walk struggling to keep the bicycle moving and the cargo on the bicycle intact and in the laborious selling of his charcoal at the city market. You hear the panting, you see the sweat, you feel the fatigue. The story becomes a huge metaphore of life. Nothing comes easy. It takes all your strengths to realize the pursuits that you have esteemed worthwhile. Nobody else seems to care much, it is your own Sysiphus effort. Individually, you may need the help of God to accomplish your task. It is a view of life well worth discussing!

This film made me once again realize the strength of documentary film. I intend to get back to this film genre with some more thought and possibly a list of titles that I can recommend.

Rinus, May 2017