During the 56th Semaine de la Critique, MAKALA was awarded the Nespresso Grand Prize by the jury, presided by Kleber Mendonça Filho. This recognition confirms the talent of Emmanuel Gras, who was previously revealed with Bovines shown in the ACID section. Also winner of the Special Mention of the l’Œil d’Or jury, MAKALA has had a rich festival career: Toronto, Karlovy Vary, Bergen (Jury prize), BFI in London, Busan, the documentary festival in Amsterdam. MAKALA will be released in France on December 6 by Les Films du Losange and afterwards by Kino Lorber in the United States, by Dogwoof in the United Kingdom.
In MAKALA, Emmanuel Gras follows Kabwita’s journey, a young villager who heads for the city to sell the result of his efforts, charcoal. “Simplicity is the key to the somber beauty of Makala, an existential documentary depicting a Congolese charcoal-maker doing his utmost to raise his family under penurious conditions. French helmer-lenser Emmanuel Gras’ camera embraces the subject’s every move with such rapt intimacy and cinematic poetry it’s easy to forget this is not a fictional drama.” (Variety)
