EN
“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.”
Maxime Jean-Baptiste
“‘It was 10 years ago, but it’s like it was yesterday,’ confides Yannick, a friend of Lucas’, the young murdered, haunted by his promise of revenge. “I see everything again. All the time.” The shadow of that tragedy – and of the others – looms over the city of Mont-Lucas. It is carved in the familial flesh of Melrick, who tries to understand this heritage, a trauma that quietly reawakens other traumas deeply inscribed in the ground. He will find this transmission in music, to the rhythm of percussions of the Mayouri Tchô Nèg band, where he takes the spot left vacant by his uncle Lucas.”
Aurore Engelen
“I talked with them a lot and, progressively, in the writing stage, with my sister Audrey (Jean-Baptiste), who co-wrote the film, the idea of making it a fiction narrative emerged. It’s actually a personal story that can nevertheless speak to other people who have lost loved ones in tragic circumstances. […]
The characters sometimes needed to get out of the story strictly speaking, to talk about something else. So the fiction gave us, as much for the characters as for myself, more freedom of interpretation. Sometimes, the classic documentary isn’t suitable for certain characters. Nicole, for instance, wasn’t comfortable with the idea of sitting down and talking directly to me as the director. She was more confident with the much more framed, more directed register of fiction.”
Maxime Jean-Baptiste
