MWEZE D. NGANGURA

Visiting Filmmaker and
Director of "Pièces d’Identités" and "La Vie est Belle"

on

"The Governor's New Clothes"
A New Film by Mweze D. Ngangura
(A loose adaptation of the story by H.C. Andersen The Emperor's New Clothes)

Friday, 15 March 2002
206 Ingraham
1:30 p.m.

Mweze D. Ngangura will also be a featured speaker at the conference "Europes and Contrary Tides: Filmmaking in the New Europe," to be held March 15-16, 2002. The conference is free and open to the public. For more information see the conference web page.

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Mweze Ngangura on his film The Governor’s New Clothes: “When I discovered the extraordinary children's tale by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor's New Clothes (1835), the impact was such that it brought me to write and produce this film, The Governor's New Clothes. Andersen exposes the rulers' vanity and mean flattery. What strikes me first in this story is its universal value, more particularly its applicability to the vast majority of African political regimes. This loose screen adaptation is intended for any audience in a simple, linear style. I wanted to situate the action in the political and cultural context of the 'murderous reality' of present day Africa. The film evolves against a background of war between two ethnic groups, the Kossos and the Krowas. Tabou, the main character (the Governor), is a Kosso who personally feels the dilemma of being married to a Krowa (Mopaya), with whom he has a son, Little Prince. The choice of names for the ethnic groups - 'Zerbo' and 'Krowa' -corruption of 'Serbo' and 'Croat' - indicates my clear reference to the fact that ethnic conflicts are not an African monopoly. At the same time, the film wants to maintain the universal nature of the fairy-tale. The Emperor's New Clothes is a musical comedy on the theme of abuse of power, with as a main story line the history of a family on the verge of collapse. I insisted first and foremost on the aspect of “film for a large audience” by alternating between hilarious and more dramatic moments. It all evolves from the point of view of a character that runs as a thread through the story - the griot Makasi, a moralist with the exceptional gift of being omnipresent”

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