Born in Kinshasa, Alain Kassanda arrived in France at the age of eleven. After studies in communications, he presented film screenings in Paris before becoming the programmer of an art-house cinema for five years. He then moved to Ibadan in south-western Nigeria, where he directed Trouble Sleep, a medium-length film centred on the road and seen from the perspectives of a taxi driver and a tax collector. The film won the Golden Dove for Best Film at Dok Leipzig and a Special Mention at Visions du Réel. Colette and Justin (2022), a feature film intertwining Kassanda’s family history and the history of the decolonisation of the Congo, was selected for the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam. Coconut Head Generation, his third film, was awarded the Grand Prix at Cinéma du Réel.
Every Thursday, a group of students from the University of Ibadan, the oldest institution of higher education in Nigeria, holds a film club, transforming a small lecture hall into a political agora where they develop their critical voice. “Coconut Head Generation,” a scornful expression that denigrates youth as stubbon and brainless, takes on a whole new meaning when the students turn the epithet around to claim their freedom of thought.
Director Alain Kassanda
Producer Alain Kassanda
Screenwriter Alain Kassanda
Cinematographer Alain Kassanda, Tobi Akinde
Art Director Alain Kassanda
Editor Alain Kassanda
Sound Alain Kassanda
Music Jr EaKEe
Colour Colour, black and white
Production Company Ajimati Films
International Sales Company Ajimati Films
Créée par Sa Majesté le Roi Mohammed VI en juillet 2002, la Fondation du Festival International du Film de Marrakech est une association à but non lucratif, reconnue d’utilité publique.
Présidée par Son Altesse Royale Le Prince Moulay Rachid, la Fondation a essentiellement pour objet l’organisation du Festival International du Film de Marrakech et tous événements y afférents ayant pour but d’encourage la création cinématographique, sa promotion et sa diffusion dans le Royaume du Maroc et dans le monde.