Le Jeu

Le Jeu is a surreal visual offering from Cameroonian-born artist Jebi Labembika and Boy.Brother.Friend, that seeks to interrogate the place of the Black body within the universe of French cinema. Drawing inspiration from Jean Genet’s 1958 play The Blacks, the film, in looking at the experience of the black body in French cinema, aims at decolonizing it giving it the freewill to play around and express itself without socio-political constrictions. The film also seeks to interrogate the role of power; and the characters from world leaders to cultural authorities, who embody those powers and the politics around their aristocratic identities. The film’s immersive, almost lucid treatment creates a blurring effect on the viewer, continuously toying with the concept of performance; blurring the line between the performer and those who are performed for.

Powered by strong visuals; sharp distinct costumes and brilliant colors, buffered by theatric dance movements and unique sonic energy created with acute specificity for each scene.

In Le Jeu, Labambika hopes the viewer “Let themselves travel and get lost in the colors the angles and the sound. You begin to feel like a part of them, the more you watch it.”