Noëlle Kenmoe and Emy Dany Bassong tell us about the movie ”April 2”

The director of the film, Noëlle Kenmoe, and the lead actress, Emy Dany Bassong, gave us an interview to talk about the film.

Ayila: “April 2” is a poignant film which particularly touched the public during its screenings during the Ecrans Noirs 2020 festival. Several people in the audience cried and gave quite moving testimonies. How did the idea for the film “April 2” come about?

Noelle Kenmoe : In 2016, while I was preparing the release of my first feature film ”Effet Boomerang”, two days before the premiere in Douala, I met the mother of the little autistic child who is in the film (Mirya Bika’a who plays the role of the activist in the film, editor’s note). I asked her to buy a ticket to come see the movie, she told me that she couldn’t come and see the movie because she has a child with autism. I had never heard of autism until this day. Immediately I told myself that it was just a pretext not to come and I insisted on offering her the ticket but she refused. After the premiere of Boomerang Effect, I continued to wonder about the reasons that made this woman, who knows me, refuse to come to the screening of my film. And then I searched in Google for the term “otitis” which is a hearing problem and I said to myself that this cannot be the reason because it is not very serious. Next Google offers me “autism”, when I click, I realize that autism is a serious disease. When I was little we called the children with this disease “children of coupé mount”. After that I went to meet the lady to discuss with her. I met her child and noticed the difference with the children I used to meet. She then spoke to me about the eyes of society, of the many people who judge her or accuse her of having carried out witchcraft practices on her son. What touched me the most was when she told me that her son does not go to school because the special schools for autism are excessively expensive. Immediately I told him that I was going to make a film to help raise public awareness on the issue of autism, a film that could also help change the outlook of society and that will call on the government to open schools accessible to all budgets and that’s how I made the film.

The movie ” April 2 ” was released in 2019, how did the premiere go ?

Trailer :

N.K. : I felt very lucky to have ordinary children, because to write the film I had to hang out with families who have autistic children. In life we ​​tend to complain a lot for nothing when there are people who have real problems. So this movie really changed my outlook on life. I consider myself blessed with what I have.

E.D.B. : My son was very stunted in his growth I told myself that if I had read the script for “April 2” before he was born I would have known exactly how to handle the situation. When I read the script I realized that there are small stages of this disease that my son went through but by the grace of God everything was able to be sorted out. After spending two weeks with an autistic child (filming period, editor’s note) and you have an ordinary child, you just say thank you to God and you avoid complaining. Parents of autistic children are real heroes.

N.K. : At the beginning I had chosen another actress to play the role of Néné (main character whose child is autistic) but deep down I felt that there was something that was not working. But I was telling myself when we are going to direct her, it will be fine. Emy had the role of Charlotte, Néné’s girlfriend, and then one evening we thought about it, we said to ourselves that we had to change the cast. In addition Emy corresponded better to the role already by her corpulence because I really wanted Néné to be played by someone physically mature. And then I spoke with the other actress, I explained to her and we changed the roles. For the other actors as I was writing the script, I chose actors who matched the image I had in mind.

E.D.B : During the preparation of the film, I wondered how I was going to succeed in playing this character. It is true that I read and I felt the pain of the parents but I had to enter a little more into the character by going to live with his children there. I also had the support of Mirya Bika’a who has an autistic daughter. Mirya is a strong woman. She quickly discovered her child’s disability and quickly accepted it. So I spent whole days with autistic children to see their behavior. And then looking at their mother’s behavior towards them gave me even more tactics to be able to enter the character well and bring out the experiences of these mothers.

N.K. : As for the preparation of the film, it was very difficult. We had to find the right sets, we had to modify several things. It was already very difficult because nobody wanted me to shoot with an autistic child, everyone told me it will take us time, we will shoot for months, whereas if you take an ordinary child it will go quickly. I was telling people, no, I want to talk about autism, I want a really autistic kid to show the world how these kids behave.

Women try to stand out from the crowd and that’s really to be appreciated.

The film is constructed as a sort of tv show in which we end up immersing ourselves in fiction. Why did you choose this type of structure ?

N.K. : In fact I imagined the story like this. I imagined the main characters who are invited on a show maybe because I already knew that I will be doing the second part of the film because it’s in the 2 that we will understand why I started the movie on a tv show. I think maybe it’s also because I like TV debate sets (laughs).

By using a truly autistic child to act in your film, you have chosen the real. Why did you choose to make a fiction instead of a documentary to stay in this logic of reality ?

N.K. : Documentary is really none of my business. (To laugh)

E.D.B. : I think Noëlle is much more focused on fiction than documentary so that may explain why she opted for it. And all the subjects which fascinate her she transmits them more easily in the fiction projects.

E.D.B : In the film industry I admire women very much, because in general we see a lot more men entering directing, production, etc. Yet there are women who have potential. We just need to give them the opportunity to express themselves. I think Noëlle really set the bar high because she made the movie the way she intended. The film is simple and beautiful without extravagance. The film takes you to understand what we are showing you. I think women try to stand out from the crowd and that’s really to be appreciated.

Néné’s husband is a rather special man, he is very human, very patient, very positive, he has a lot of respect and at a certain point it even gets weird. And it’s a little strange because it’s written by a woman. Why did you choose to write this character this way?

N.K. : A lot of people say I’m a feminist, but I’m not the type who always wants to paint a man black. Through the film I wanted to show how husbands or partners of women who have autistic children behave. They are all in denial. It’s the mom who is always the first to see that something is wrong. In all the couples where there is an autistic child, the man is always the one who says that there is nothing, that the child goes at his own pace. This is what I wanted to show.

E.D.B. : I found the character of Kagame (Nene’s husband) a little too passive and it was good. He is not a violent man, he is not an imposing man who would take his wife for a madwoman for a long time because at one point he imagines that it is his wife who is mad but fortunately he Quickly understands his wife’s suffering and supports her. He’s a character that I really liked because on the whole he made you forget the child’s problems a little. He is not the kind of father who as soon as he learns that his child will not have a normal life carries his bags and leaves. Because that’s usually what mothers of autistic children go through. Lots of moms of autistic kids are single because dads don’t accept, they say it’s witchcraft and disengage from their role as a father. But in the film Kagame shows another image to men who have different children. You must not abandon your wife because your child is not normal. The child is yours to both, in addition it is the man who gives the child; so if there is a problem man is the problem so why go.

N.K. : When I sent the script to several people, there were people who asked me why the husband is not leaving, much like in real life. Because it’s rare to see a couple who stay together after a child’s diagnosis. I wanted to tell the men not to flee anymore. The child belongs to both, They must fight together for the future of this child.

 

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“April 2” is the most beautiful film I’ve played

How was the work and the relationship with the actors?

N.K. : I was lucky to have actors who listened to me and who were patient because there were really very difficult days when I had no moral and I was very irritable. But they were there. All were of exemplary punctuality. The actors really cooperated.

E.D.B. : My relationship with the other actors was good. Because we all put in trust, because we weren’t trying to find out who did what more than the other. we had a film to make and all minds had to be turned to that goal. We worked with the same heart because we knew we were doing it for a good cause.

N.K. : In reality there was not a lot of directing work especially with Emy. Emy read the text and knew how to build her character. I was the first to be blown away by his performance. There have been times on the set where we all cry. In the sequence where she learns that her son is autistic, after her reaction everyone cried on set. I didn’t really have to direct Emy herself did it.

E.D.B. : It was difficult to get into the character of Nene because I hadn’t yet had a role where I had to be sad all the time. I have always had fairly dynamic roles. a lot of people know me as still playing the role of an aggressive woman, but when people saw this movie they wondered how i did it and frankly i don’t know how i did it. I felt concerned, I didn’t tell myself that I was making a movie but rather that I was entering into the skin of a mother of a child. And so with acting techniques I was able to create the character. And I was amazed at the result. At the premiere, watching the film myself I was crying and I was really surprised and I said to myself that I can still do better. When I watch a movie that I played in, I mostly look at what I shouldn’t have done, that’s how I work to improve myself. To tell the truth, I have not yet come out of this emotion of the mother of an autistic child. I really took this character to heart, April 2 is the most beautiful film I’ve played.

N.K. : For future projects at the end of 2021 we must do the second part of “April 2”, The revolution, it is a sequel but which will be independent of the first part. And then I have a film I’m preparing on the Rwandan genocide. I will be going to Rwanda and Uganda in a few days for that. I will tell the story of the greatest genocidaire in Rwanda.

E.D.B. : For this month of number I plan to relaunch the shooting of my web series Les Tchakaï, in January I will play in season 2 of the series Madame, Monsieur. At the end of 2021 there will be the shooting of the second part of “April 2” but in the meantime, I am available, the producers can contact me.