Feature film
Under House Arrest
En résidence surveillée
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra · 1981
Synopsis
In an imaginary African country governed without any sharing of power by the single party, the president does profitable business with entrepreneurs from Europe, and a French adviser has his ear. Then appears the thesis of a young academic on African culture and its political translation, which argues for reconnecting with traditions without giving up Western knowledge. Its unexpected success shakes the palace: the president goes to consult a village, the foreign partners grow uneasy, and the army begins to get involved.
Context
The idea comes from Abdou Anta Ka, but the filmmaker wrote the screenplay himself. The shoot was done on very little money: documentary footage of crowds, family and friends on screen, the director as the cabinet's secretary, and journalists playing themselves. Douta Seck plays the president; the music is by Francis Bebey. It is the only feature-length fiction by a maker of documentaries. Restored by LTC Patrimoine with the support of the CNC and the Cinémathèque Afrique, the print was shown for the first time at the Carthage Film Days in December 2025, then in New York in May 2026.
Who it is for
One hundred minutes, in French. A political fable, satirical and talkative, whose allusions are better appreciated if one knows a little about the public life of the first decades.
Prizes and reception
The only feature-length fiction film by its author, long unseen, it returned to screens after its restoration in 2025.
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