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NIOBIUM

Feature

Production
Imagi’nation
daoimagination@gmail.com

NIOBIUM_ateliersdegrandbassam_2024

Director
Maisha MAENE
Democratic Republic of Congo

Producer
Sakinatou SEYDOU
Niger

Synopsis

In a village in DRC, Mwezi, a young artisanal miner, stumbles across a niobium gem with magical properties that connect him with his ancestors. In a night-time dream, his grandfather reveals to him the power of niobium to protect the future of their community. As Mokonzi, the rebellious village chief, finds out what has happened, Mwezi and his friend Nuru must do everything they can to protect the gem from foreign predators. Forced to leave their village in a hurry, the two teenagers embark on a singular adventure, where allies join their cause while encountering obstacles that are difficult to overcome. Throughout their journey, they come to understand and master the powers of this precious mineral, while simultaneously summoning unknown forces within themselves.

Production note

Maisha Maene has a very unique approach to cinema and resolutely committed to the current issues of Congolese society, which appealed to me as soon as the project was proposed to me. Original writing and a esthetics, imbued with humanism, which draw both on ancestral traditions, the energy of the present, and resolutely turned towards the future. The cinema of Maisha Maene that I want to portray is undoubtedly part of it, with a finesse and nobility of its own, without falling into caricature.

Niobium is an ambitious feature film project, mixing reality and special effects, at the crossroads of social film and science fiction. It is a film which offers an immersion into a rural and village environment. We believe that this film, promoting a mix of genres, both narratively and visually, can have a strong impact and arouse the interest of spectators and exhibitors in Africa, Europe and everywhere else. Far from being a “statement” of political and social issues in Congo, Niobium is a film with intrigue, intended for a general audience with endearing characters, with whom we can easily identify.

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Ateliers de Grand-Bassam
Ateliers de Grand-Bassam
Ateliers de Granda-Bassam

About us

Les Ateliers de Grand-Bassam is brought to life by Grand-Bassam Project, a non-profit association that embodies excellence in the film and audiovisual industry. The association is an organization of filmmakers, producers and cultural industry professionals from Ivory Coast, the continent and beyond, who help incubate performing arts and audiovisual projects by applying alternative methods of management, production, marketing and distribution in countries across the continent.

Grand-Bassam Project’s main objective is to contribute to the emergence of a solid, internationally competitive African cultural industry, notably through the development of the performing arts and audiovisual sector, capable of contributing to improving the economic impact of culture and consolidating the employability of young people.

Specifically, the objectives of the Grand-Bassam Project are to :

– Implement and consolidate an incubator for cultural projects and professional training workshops for artists and producers from Ivory Coast and other countries on the continent.

– Contribute to the reappropriation by Ivorian cultural players of the conception and governance of cultural policies, in partnership with public decision-makers at national level.

– Contribute to the dissemination of cinematographic works from the continent Formalize and implement a strategy for the implementation of activities, a risk management plan, as well as a monitoring and evaluation plan for all actions.

– Produce and/or co-produce performing arts and audiovisual works and projects for dissemination on the continent and internationally.

– Intensify artistic education initiatives aimed at children, young people and the general public.

Grand-Bassam Project is in the process of launching its program of activities, which include training, production, distribution, image education and consulting for the first edition of the Ateliers de Grand-Bassam. In keeping with its management strategy, the company’s aim is to combine production activities with socio-educational initiatives.

By working closely with sister organizations in Ivory Coast who share the same passion, Grand-Bassam Project will contribute to the future of cinema in Côte d’Ivoire and beyond.

The association capitalizes on the experience acquired over the last ten years by the Ouaga Film Lab, and projects will be carried out with the expertise required to increase the competitiveness of Ivorian and African filmmakers on the world stage.