The King, the Cow and the Banana Tree

Mweze Ngangura & 60' — 1994

Mweze Ngangura takes up to his natal region, Ngweshe, one of he six Bushi kingdoms in the province of Kivu, in Eastern Zaïre. In this region of the Great Lakes, wealth is mesured in heads of cows and in length and breadth of banana plantations. Intermixed with commentaries of the director, are those of the King, Mwami Pierre Ndatabaye Weza III, divulging the daily realities of this traditional African kingdom as it confronts the modern world. The third narrator, Makura, is a storyteller. This guardian of traditional knowledge and collective memory teaches the children the proverbs, customs and mythologies of the region. « The King, the Cow and the Banana Tree » sheds light on the dramatic events unfolding in neighbouring Rwanda, particularly in a prophetci sequence when a seer predicts calamities that will take place in the countries surrounding Ngweshe.

Belgium

Production : FILMSUD (Belgique), SOL-OEIL-FILMS (Congo – Kinshasa)
Co-production : CBA
With the support of Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique (ACCT- France), le Ministère de la Coopération et du Développement (France), la Commission des Communautés Européennes, COE (Italie – Milano), AJC, Centre du cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles

Réalisation
Mweze Ngangura
Scenario
Mweze Ngangura
DOP
Jean-Louis Penez
Sound
Richard Verthe
Image editor
Marie-Hélène Mora
Music
Bashi Folklore, Robert Falk
Image Format
16mm
Available subtitles
FR
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