“There aren’t a lot of films about child soldiers, some have looked at the process of how they are brought in, the horrors they experience, but no one ever asks how they start over,” says Foumbi, adding that she was inspired to tell this story partly due to her father’s work at the United Nations. Through her protagonist’s journey, Foumbi sheds light on the lesser-known issue of how former child’s soldiers struggle to overcome trauma and their difficult path towards rehabilitation in society.
Foumbi, who is represented by UTA, is the second Black female helmer to be selected in the festival’s history, following Regina King’s feature debut “One Night in Miami” in 2020.Ī redemption tale weaving drama and psychological thriller, Foumbi’s film follows Marie, a reclusive African refugee (Babetida Sadjo) whose quiet existence in a sleepy mountain village in the south of France is overturned when she meets the charismatic new parish priest (Souleymane Sy Savane), who happens to be the warlord that slaughtered her family and recruited her as a child. , where her feature debut, “Our Father, the Devil,” will be presented as part of the Biennale College-Cinema section. A singular new voice born in Cameroon and based in New York, Ellie Foumbi is set to shine on the international scene at the Venice Film Festival, where her feature debut, “Our Father, the Dev…