90 minutes – Drama
Release date: May 11, 2012 (Québec)
Production company: Item 7
Canadian distributor: Mongrel Media
Québec distributor: Métropole Films
US distributor: Tribeca Films
Somewhere in an outport in sub-Saharan Africa, Komona, a girl of twelve lives quietly with her parents. One day when the rebels arrive, they loot the village and Komona is captured then forced to kill her parents. At fourteen, she is pregnant and begins to tell her life story to the child she carries but does not want in her womb. During a disastrous attack against the government army, Komona is the only one spared. Rebel leaders see her as the new witch they need to motivate the troops and she becomes the witch to Grand Tigre Royal, the supreme commander of the rebels. Komona comes to meet a 15 year old boy called the Magician, who makes amulets and collect books that he cannot read, but makes up fantastic stories to the glory of the Great Tigre. Over four months together, the Magician and Komona fall in love with each other. Realizing that if she does not want the ghosts of her parents to haunt her baby, she gathers the strength and courage to escape the rebels and begin the long journey that will bring them back to the village where she was born. At the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival, Rebelle, or War Witch as it is titled in English, picked up the World Narrative Award and the Best Actress in a Narrative Feature for the young Congo native, Rachel Mwanza
(March 18, 2013) Rebelle, after winning 10 Canadian Screen Awards on March 3rd, won 8 Jutra Awards in Quebec at the 15th annual Prix Jutra in Montréal.
Also see: This film was selected as one of the Top 10 Canadian Films of the 2010s.
Pierre Even
Marie‐Claude Poulin
Nicolas Bolduc
Richard Comeau
Emmanuel Fréchette
Emmanuel Fréchette
Éric Poirier
Racjel Mwanza
Alain Bastien
Serge Kanyinda
Ralph Prosper
Mizinga Mwinga
Komona
Commandant Rebelle
Magician
Le Boucher
Grand Tigre Royal
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First published as Northernstars.net February 1, 1998
ISSN 2563 4895