Machérie Ekwa Bahango
Machérie Ekwa Bahango is a filmmaker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her first film Maki’la was screened at the Berlinale.Life
Bahango was born in Kinsangani. She was studying law when she decided to learn the basics of filmmaking by watching online videos. She began connecting with other filmmakers in the Congo, and was engaged by Alain Gomis to translate the script for his 2017 film Félicité into Lingala, her mother tongue.
Mak’ila, about an orphan forced to fend for herself on the streets of Kinshasa, had stalled in post-production for lack of funds until Alain Modot, of the International Distribution of Films and Fiction from Africa, gained backing from Orange Studio in Paris. It won the Golden Screen award at the 2018 Ecrans Noirs film festival.Films
