Nestor, Aaron and Ben­jamin are Rafiki’s clos­est friends. They are all study­ing eco­nom­ics at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Bangui. But Rafiki wants to make films and starts doc­u­ment­ing their lives with his camera. After lec­tures, they hang out in front of the uni­ver­si­ty or in their stu­dent accom­mo­da­tion and exchange ideas: about the future of their Cen­tral African Repub­lic home­land, but also about things that imme­di­ate­ly pre­oc­cu­py them in their lives, such as dating and work. They ask them­selves how things are sup­posed to con­tin­ue. As young people with access to edu­ca­tion, they see them­selves as the ones who will shape the coun­try in the coming decades. But how can you manage to reshape a system when so much of your energy goes into your own needs and sur­vival? In his fea­ture-length debut, direc­tor Rafiki Far­i­ala takes us into the circle of his friends, pro­vid­ing an imme­di­ate, poetic and at the same time undis­guised look at the real­i­ty of mil­len­ni­als in Bangui. (Berli­nale) 

Rafiki Far­i­ala, born in 1997 in Uvira, Congo, grew up in the Cen­tral African Repub­lic. In 2013 he pub­lished the piece WHY WAR, which made him known as a musi­cian. In 2017, he par­tic­i­pat­ed in the doc­u­men­tary work­shop of Ate­liers Varan in Bangui and real­ized his first short film Mbi na mo (You and Me) in this framework.

*12.05. on-site, 20.05. via Zoom