Democratic Republic of the Congo / 2000 / 15mins / Comedy / French

In Kinshasa, rumor has it that the constitution includes 14 articles. And in order to face the increasing poverty of the people, politicians who have abandoned them are said to have promulgated an Article 15 proclaiming: "Citizens, get out of the mess yourselves!" But as the social situation disintegrated even more, a second Article 15 was apparently added and immediately adopted: "Citizens get out of the mess all over again!" Article 15A expresses the loser's triumphant laughter. In this contemporary fable, three security guards reveal their lowly nature while talking leisurely in the midday heat about public service, corruption, and back pay.

Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda

Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda was born on 30 October 1957 in Kinshasa. He studied sociology, history and philosophy in Brussels, Belgium. He took courses in filmmaking in France, the United Kingdom and the United States. From 1979 to 1981 he was an instructor in the French Cultural Centre in Lubumbashi. In 1991 he made his first documentary, Dix mille ans de cinéma, and in 1993 released a second documentary on Thomas Sankara. His first fiction film was Le Damier - Papa National Oyé! (The Draughtsmen Clash) made in 1996. He was a member of the board of short films at CNC in France from 1999 to 2001. Balufu was a member of the Input 2000 (International Public Television) in Cape Town, South Africa and a member of CreaTV, UNESCO’s program for televisions in the South between 2000 and 2003. Bakupa-Kanyinda is a writer and a poet as well as a film director. New York University invited him to lecture in 2006 and 2007 at the NYU-Ghana campus in Accra. Balufu is a founding member of the Guild of African filmmakers and producers. Learn More