DeadlineDirector Philippe Lacôte is back as the representative from Ivory Coast for the International Feature Film Oscar with Night of the Kings, a story about storytelling. It’s set in the notorious La Maca prison in Abidjan where prisoners rule the roost.As a red moon rises, a new inmate, designated Roman, is ordered by the prison’s self-appointed boss to tell a story. Ultimately, Roman crafts a tale that lyrically enthralls his fellow prisoners.Lacôte previously worked in documentaries and Night of the Kings brings through elements of that background mixed with a sort of magical realism and a link to the story of Sherezade. During the film’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders International awards-season event, he says that the real La Maca has a place in his own history as his mother spent time in the prison for political reasons, and he later had a friend who was there and told him of the practice of obliging a prisoner to tell stories.“I try to make fiction with real and true stories,” he says. “It’s important when I speak about one world to have the reality in it.” Among the cast, 25% of extras are former prisoners and it was “important to have this authenticity.”But that is “not in contradiction with poetry. In my culture, in my country, t
Source: ‘Night Of The Kings’ Director Philippe Lacôte Interview — Contenders – Deadline
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