Special screenings and Q&A of Le Damier by Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda at NYFF60 and La Maison Française of NYU!

October 1 | 6pm at NYFF60 

October 6 | 6pm at La Maison Française of NYU, 16 Washington Mews

Synopsis:

Set in a fictitious African country, Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda’s medium-length comedy recounts the tale of the country’s president—the founder and “first citizen” of his nation—settling in for an all-night game of checkers with a man who purports to be the grand champion. However, the game soon devolves into a satirical and incisive parable about the brutal confrontation between dictatorship and its political opponents. A meticulously composed work of political cinema, Le Damier takes aim at the absurdity of authoritarianism and doesn’t miss.

Directed by Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda 

1996 | Democratic Republic of Congo

French with English subtitles | 40 minutes

Restored in 2K in 2021 by NYU Tisch, in association with Villa Albertine – French Embassy in the United States and the Cinémathèque Afrique of the Institut français.