Kouté vwa

In modern-day French Guiana, a teenage boy spends the summer with his grandmother unearthing the complexities of identity and the circumstances that led to his uncle’s murder. An intimate portrait of a family – and community – on the mend.

In 2012, 18-year-old drummer and DJ, Lucas Diomar, was murdered in his hometown of Cayenne, French Guiana. Eleven years later his young nephew, Melrick Diomar, is spending the summer holidays with his uncle’s mother: his grandmother Nicole. Through conversations between grandma and grandson and a tender mixture of archival and documentary footage Kouté vwa tenderly unearths themes of forgiveness, reconciliation and the residue of post-colonial futures.

Plagued with the systematic dilapidation and violence of many other European outposts, past and present, French Guiana (on the northeastern coast of South America) retains a vibrant history. It is through this prism that filmmaker Maxime Jean-Baptiste anchors his story. As Melrick learns to play the drums his uncle was revered for, the journey into what makes this town is revealed in beautiful and painful ways.  

Kouté vwa is a celebration of holding onto what is, while mourning what has been lost. Through this intergenerational relationship stories of community, unbridled youth, friendship and reconstruction come to life. Within the mundane of the day-to-day lives joy and a fierce hope.

– Lesedi Oluko Moche

Trailer

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