Venice Final Cut Winner Machérie Ekwa Bahango on ‘Madi Makambu’ and Why She Wants Congo to Be Seen: ‘We’re a Great Nation That Needs to Write Its Own History’

Sep 11, 2026 2:41am PT Venice Final Cut Winner Machérie Ekwa Bahango on ‘Madi Makambu’ and Why She Wants Congo to Be Seen: ‘We’re a Great Nation That Needs to Write Its Own History’

By Marta Balaga

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Marta Balaga

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(Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia. Photo by Alessio Miraglia/ASAC)

Machérie Ekwa Bahango wants Congo to be noticed by the industry. 

“Through my films, I would like Congo to be seen as part of the world. Not for the labels people stick on it, but for what it really is,” she tells Variety. 

“The subjects in my films are difficult, but they are issues that people face in the Congo. We’re a great nation that needs to write, and rewrite, our own history.”

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