(, "African Notebook") is a 2016

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

by Heidi Specogna, a Swiss

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. Beginning in 2008, Specogna's long-term observation follows the lives of two young Central African women, Amzine and Arlette. The film was prompted by the discovery of a small exercise book, full of courageous testimonies by more than 300 victims of war crimes committed by Central African

mercenaries A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...

during armed conflict between October 2002 and March 2003. ''Cahier Africain'' premiered in 2016 at the

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

, where it received the Zonta Club Award, and the film's UK premiere was in September 2017 at the 25th

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove ...

in London.

Salena Godden Salena Godden is an English poet, author, activist, broadcaster, memoirist and essayist. Born in Hastings, UK, of Jamaican-Irish heritage, Godden based in London. Widely anthologised, she has published several books. She has also written for ...

was the film's English-language narrator.

Content

Amzine, a young Muslim woman, gave birth to a child as a result of rape. Looking at her now 12-year-old daughter Fane is a daily reminder of the suffering she entrusted to this book. Arlette, a Christian girl, has been in agony for years due to a gunshot to her knee that refused to heal. After successful surgery in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, she holds on to hope for a pain-free existence. But while the two young women try to master their difficult daily lives with confidence – and while, in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, the legal prosecution of crimes committed during the last war is still in progress – the next war breaks out in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

. Amzine, Fane and Arlette must once again face a maelstrom of violence, death and expulsion. At their side, the film bears witness to the collapse of order and civilization in a country torn apart by civil war and

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

Reception

Giorgia Del Don wrote about ''Cahier Africain'' in

Cineuropa Cineuropa is an online information portal dedicated to the promotion of European cinema. It publishes daily news, reviews, interviews, and industry reports and maintains a database of information. It is available in four languages: English, Fre ...

: "Heidi Specogna's latest film literally speaks through images .about a sad and hopeless beauty. Without ever toppling over into pity, the director portrays the everyday reality of her protagonists with dashes of hope." The review particularly praises the intensity of the film: "Heidi Specogna ..make us understand to what extent life has the same value everywhere. A terrible and poetic film it takes extreme courage to watch."

Awards

won the Zonta Club Award at

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

2016. At

DOK Leipzig DOK Leipzig is a documentary film festival that takes place every October in Leipzig, Germany. It is an international film festival for documentary and animated film founded in 1955 under the name "1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural an ...

2016, was awarded the Silver Dove. received the 2016 German Human Rights Film Award (Deutscher Menschenrechts-Filmpreis) Deutscher Menschenrechts-Filmpreis (German)
Retrieved 2016-11-10

References

External links

*
at Rushlake Media

''Cahier Africain'' at Filmbringer Distribution

Part 1
an
Part 2
on

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distributed by

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

2016 films 2016 documentary films 2010s English-language films 2010s German films Documentary films about Africa Documentary films about war crimes Films about war crimes German documentary films Swiss documentary films English-language documentary films {{hist-documentary-film-stub