'Ébinto', the Ivorian film adapted from Amadou Koné's novel Les Frasques d'Ébinto, will premiere international at the Grand Rex in Paris on Thursday 29 October at 6 pm, with the film team in attendance. The tickets can be bought online.
The film was released in Côte d'Ivoire on 15 October. Luc Gnepa directs the film, based on a screenplay by Gauz. Charly Kodjo produced the film, which Instant2vie Studio made in association with NCI. Ephraim Oka plays Ébinto, Armande Lo plays Monique, and Maud Guerard plays Murielle.
Set in Côte d'Ivoire in the 1970s, the film follows a young man who makes wrong decisions and falls into tragic situations because of his relationships with two young women. Gnepa said he based the story on his first love and used 1970s films as a visual reference, shooting in the Aby Lagoon and Grand-Bassam.
According to the production, 90% of the budget was raised locally. The shoot employed more than 100 technicians and more than 1,000 extras. The distribution strategy includes screenings in more than 30 locations outside Abidjan, as well as in other African cities and diasporic centres.
A trailer was first screened in Paris over the summer in an event attended by Côte d'Ivoire's ambassador to France.
The Paris premiere is the first step of the movie's diasporic tour. For distributors in France and francophone Africa, it shows how a locally financed Ivorian movie is reaching the diaspora directly, without an established international distributor so far.
