As a part of Whammy's VIDEOCYBERNOIRVEMBER series, TAPE LA presents Jean-Pierre Bekolo's Les Saignantes, which is part sci fi-action-horror hybrid film, part an antisexist imaginary, and part criticism of politically-corrupt postcolonial African ruling class.

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SYNOPSIS

The film follows Majolie and Chouchou, two best friends and sex workers a.k.a. Bloodettes, who in a 2025 dystopian Cameroon, must dispose of the corpse of a politically powerful client. Young and stylish, the two heroines use their cunning as postmodern women and a secret pre-colonial ancestral feminine spiritual rite known as "mevoungou" to transform their own and their country's futures.

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As one of the first African science fiction films, Bekolo uses the malleability of popular generic forms to boldly interrogate : "How can you make a horror film in a country where death is a party? How can you make a film of anticipation in a country that has no future? How can you make a detective film in a country where you can't investigate?"

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dir, Jean-Pierre Bekolo, 2005,
Cameroon, digital projection
97 min

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7:30 DOORS

8:00 SCREENING

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Presented by T.A.P.E. - a Los Angeles based 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to facilitating support for analog media through free digitizing, education, hands-on training, equipment rentals and volunteer opportunities. Teach, archive, preserve, exhibit.

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