National Diploma
Icarus Films • 1h 32m
Directed by Dieudo Hamadi • Documentary • 2014 • 92 minutes
NATIONAL DIPLOMA follows a group of Congolese high-school students about to take the state exam in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Dieudo Hamadi's documentary closely follows them as they prepare for the test, from the benches of the school they are regularly ejected from because they haven't paid the fees the teachers unfairly inflict upon their students, to the communal house where they gather to study, and the chaotic city streets of Kisangani they walk trying to find a living.
"Admirably well directed, the film strikes a subtle balance between its focus on the group and the individual. Young director Dieudo Hamadi has as much empathy for those he films as he has skepticism toward their absurd circumstances." —Cahiers du cinema
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