Night of the Kings
La nuit des rois
Directed by
France, Ivory Coast, Canada, Senegal
2021
93 min
- French
- Dioula
Drama
A young man is sent to "La Maca", a prison in the middle of the Ivorian forest ruled by its inmates.As tradition goes with the rising of the red moon, he is designated by the Boss to be the new"Roman" and must tell a story to the other prisoners. Learning what fate awaits him, he begins tonarrate the mystical life of the legendary outlaw named “Zama King” and has no choice but tomake his story last until dawn.
Awards
- Youth Jury award - IFF Rotterdam
Festivals
Labels & Line Ups
Credits
- Screenplay
- Philippe Lacôte
- Cinematography
- Tobie Marier Robitaille
- Editing
- Aube Foglia
- Music
- Olivier Alary
- Distributor
- BANSHEE FILMS
- Sales
- MEMENTO FILMS INTERNATIONAL
- Production
- PERIPHERIA PRODUCTIONS
- Production
- WASSAKARA PRODUCTIONS
Press
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This captivating hybrid of a movie mixes fairy-tale and storytelling elements with a vividly drawn backdrop of heightened realism.

Philippe Lacôte
Ivory Coast
Philippe Lacôte grew up in Abidjan near a movie theater called “Le Magic”. In 1989 he started as a radio reporter with a series of sound portraits on the fall of the Berlin Wall. Later, he made his first short films: THE MESSENGER and AFFAIRE LIBINSKI, which were shown at several international festivals.
Alongside these narrative-driven fictions, he has developed, since 2002, documentary work through films written in the first person (CAIRO HOURS, CHRONICLES OF WAR IN THE IVORY COAST). His first feature film, RUN, is at the junction of these two approaches. RUN won the Jerusalem Film Lab Award, and was presented at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. His project NIGHT OF THE KINGS was selected for the Venice Gap-financing Market 2019.