We, Students !
The recurrent cycle Noir.e.s à la caméra allows us to discover works directed or produced by African or Afrodescendant filmmakers throughout the history of cinema.
Nestor, Aaron, Benjamin and Rafiki are economics undergraduates at the University of Bangui. Navigating between the overcrowded classrooms, the petty trades that allow students to survive, bribery lurking everywhere, Rafiki shows us what students lives are like in the Central African Republic, a shattered society where the youth keeps dreaming for a brighter future for their country.
Rafiki Fariala
Born in 1997 in Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rafiki Fariala is first a slammer. Under his artist name Rafiki RH2O, he federates many fans. In the fall of 2017, he was selected to participate in the Varan documentary filmmaking workshop in Bangui. In this context, he directed his very first film Mbi na Mo - You and Me, which was screened in many festivals, including the FIPADOC in Biarritz. In 2022, Rafiki Fariala directed his first feature-length documentary film, We, Students, which won an award at the Cinéma du réel (Prix des Bibliothèques 2022) and was screened at numerous festivals, including the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), where the film made its mark on the history of the festival by being the first Central African film to be screened there.
