“The forest can halt, not cocoa.” Because the State of Cameroon
is threatening to cancel its involvement in the management of a
community forest in Koundi, in the eastern part of the country, it
could soon deprive its 1,200 inhabitants of their main income. But
the village decides to start a cocoa bean plantation. This takes three
years to achieve – the collective result of all the village men working
one day a week. The establishment of the “national Thursday” is the
basis for a village chronicle beautifully and simply shot by Ariane
Astrid Atodji. This first film has no music or voice over. When they
are not drinking their wages away at the Jet Set local bar, some
men try to get booze from the local female wine-maker; others
want to fix their male problems with the female heeler or are being
sued in court for mistaking their wife for the neighbour’s and vice
versa. The schoolteacher strives to have his pupils learn by heart the
motto “Abstinence, loyalty, condom!”. In the course of a week (which
actually required three weeks’ shooting), the politics of daily matters
is revealed, not only through the village hierarchy, but also through
gender and generation relationships. CG
