At the heart of the equatorial forest, the village of Lebamzip is preparing for the beginning of the school term. The arrival of a new school teacher, Bernard Malo Malo, is soon going to stir up trouble. A young libertarian, fresh out of Yaoundé's Teacher's School, Malo Malo conceives of education as a window on the world. With his students he spends as much time in class as outdoors, and broaches as many subjects as possible, from politics to sexuality. These methods can hardly be said to please the school principal, and make a confrontation between the two men inevitable.
During a full term, Lebamzip will experience some extraordinary moments, both terrifying and marvelous.

"This is on the basis of a simple story, of a refined realization, and of a direction where scenes full of humour rub shoulders with tragedy, that Bassek Ba Kobhio presents us, through the little village, the state of his country: a society destabilized by colonization, followed by a mismanaged independence."

Gilles Colpart,
La Revue Cinéma, june 1991.



Director: Bassek Ba Kobhio
Screenplay: Bassek Ba Kobhio
d'après Bassek Ba Kobhio Sango Malo
Running time: 93 min
35 mm - Feature Film - Colour
Director of Photography: Joseph Guerin
Editing: Marie-Jeanne Kanyala
Sound: Issa Traoré
Music: Francis Bebey
Set Design and Props: François Bollo


Production countries: Cameroon / Burkina Faso (former Upper Volta)

Producers: Les Films Terre Africaine, FODIC, Cameroon Radio And Television, DIPROCI

Sponsors: Ministry of Cooperation (France), Channel Four (England), Hubert Bals Fund (Holland), ACCT.

Cast: Jérôme Bolo, Marcel Mvondo II, Edwige Ntongon A Zock, Jean Miguele