News

Documentary Kouté Vwa (or Listen to the Voices) by Maxime Jean-Baptiste is selected for the Academy Shortlist of films vying for the 38th European Film Awards (EFA). The project, which was produced in Belgium, France and French Guiana received funding from New Dawn in the scheme’s first round in 2022.

In Kouté Vwa, 13 year old Melrick spends his summer vacation in Cayenne with his grandmother Nicole. His desire to learn to play the drum brings back the spectre of Lucas, Nicole’s son, also a drummer, who died in tragic conditions 11 years earlier.

Statement from Maxime Jean-Baptiste for the EFA website:

In March 2012, I was 19 years old. In France, I heard about the brutal death of my cousin in Cayenne, who was stabbed several times during a party after a fight between young people. Lucas died of his wounds on the spot. It took me a long time to find the right way to deal with the tragedy of his death. Several stories about my relationship with French Guiana, where my family came from, are intertwined here. I tried to get as close as possible to the protagonists, but I also tried to invent a fiction that was also a reflection on the persistence of violence in a territory marked by the history of transatlantic slavery. The film is a plunge into the heart of the stories that haunt European societies “in return”, to quote Aimé Césaire. A history that comes back to us, with all its violence, from that famous “New World” which we once dreamed of. My film tries to create the sensitive and delicate conditions for an intercultural dialogue which, as we know, has become very tense in our societies because of the resurfacing of buried histories. This film is therefore intimate, but it also aims to be a tool for discovery, debate and social cohesion.

With 34 European – both EU and non-EU – countries represented, the list of the selected films reflects the excellency of European filmmaking demonstrating the variety, diversity and creativity throughout Europe.

The nominations will be announced on 18 November 2025 at the Real Alcázar of Sevilla, following the 22nd Seville European Film Festival.

Source:  europeanfilmawards.eu