Kouté vwa
by Maxime Jean-Baptise
synopsis
Maxime had the opportunity to work on two film projects during the SIC program : Sasé-istwé and Kouté vwa (listen to the voices).
Sasé-istwé [searching for stories, searching for trouble] by Maxime Jean-Baptiste and Elli Vassalou Can we speak up and enact a non-colonial, polyvocal take on a story? In which ways does it resonate in contemporary times? Sasé Istwé is a film project and a polyphonic platform which dialogues with “L’affaire des Insurges de Cayenne”, a historical event that included the radicalization of the Guyanese people, an uprising, a long trial and finally the acquittal of the defendants. These events took place between Cayenne [French Guiana] and Nantes [France] in the interwar period. This incident has affected the history of France outre-mer territories and has up until the present been used by France to perpetuate an idealized image of republicanism based upon universalism. This project is searching for micro-stories, silenced behind the dominant narratives by using the reactivation of the trial’s archives in a creative dialogue with people of the Guyanese diaspora in Europe and in French Guiana. Maxime Jean-Baptiste is a filmmaker and Elli Vassalou is a multimedia artist, performer, researcher and activist. They are both interested in decolonial methodologies of narration and filmaking. Sasé-istwé is part of Sound Image Culture (SIC) platform for 2018-2019 and co-funded by Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (VAF) and Bureau International Jeunesse (BIJ)
Kouté vwa – Synopsis
Melrick, a 13-year-old boy, spends his summer with his grandmother Nicole in Cayenne, French Guiana. His presence and his desire to learn how to play the drum bring back the specter of Lucas, Nicole’s son, also a drummer, who tragically died 11 years earlier. Faced with the grief that haunts his family and Lucas’s best friend’s desire for revenge, Melrick seeks his own path to forgiveness.
Director’s statement
In Kouté vwa, I tried to closely document the reality of the protagonists whilst creating a fiction that would be a reflection on the persistence of violence in a territory marked by the history of transatlantic slavery.
crédits
Script: Maxime Jean-Baptiste et Audrey Jean-Baptiste
Production Twenty Nine Studio & Productions, in coproduction with Spectres Films (F) and Atelier Graphoui. A film developed in the framework of SoundImageCulture – SIC. With the support of CCA of the FWB, CBA, Bruits asbl and Kunstenfestivaldesarts.
Projections – Screenings
Presse – Reviews
« Maxime Jean-Baptiste Bows Feature Debut ‘Listen to the Voices,’ », Leonard Krähmer, by Pierre Jendrysiak, Variety, 08/2024
« Locarno 77 : Figures libres par Franck Finance-Madureira », French Mania, 08/2024
“Maxime Jean-Baptiste • “La fiction nous a permis de nous distancer par rapport à la tragédie, pour que la réalité ne nous submerge pas” by Giorgia Del Don, Cineeuropa, 08/2024
« Locarno 2024 – Cineasti del presente : Kouté vwa (Listen to the Voices), premier long métrage de Maxime Jean-Baptiste, brosse un portrait intime de la Guyane française » by Firouz Pillet, J-mag, 08/2024
Projections – Screenings
Vancouver International Film Festival, USA, 10/2024
World premiere at Locarno Film Festival – section “Cineasti del presente », CH, 08/2024
Prix – Awards
Special Jury Prize CINE+ at Locarno Film Festival, CH, 08/2024
Special Mention from the First Feature jury at Locarno Film Festival, CH, 08/2024
![](https://soundimageculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Maxime-1.jpeg)