What is your film about?

Shimoni is a film about a person, a person in a lot of pain who is unable to cope with life and their own failures. A person who tries to confront this pain and is unable to overcome it. This is what I really wanted to speak about, a debilitating fear that consumes everything. These are the emotions that I wanted to explore in the film, fear, sadness, grief and trauma.
Why? I really don't know. I think storytelling gives me the opportunity to take a feeling, sometimes my feelings and emotions and communicate it in the most honest way. This is what I wanted to do with Shimoni and not necessarily speak about one thing in particular.

In what kind of genre your film can it be classified?

I did not set out to make a genre film and that gave me freedom to use various elements from different genres. You could consider the film a drama, it definitely has very strong leanings towards that genre, but humour was a key element in the film and for some people drama should not set out to make people laugh and I needed people to laugh because otherwise the film would have been overwhelming, but it's not a comedy either. Some people have called it a psychological thriller, but I don't agree with that entirely too. I do however like to call the film a tragedy.

Who is this film for?

Everybody



Geoffrey is the main protagonist of this film. The actor plays his role of trauma as if he had experienced himself this situation. How the casting went and what was the intention to make him die at the end? Was there not a remedy, a hope in the sense that we live only hope in this sometimes perplexed and paradoxical land? 

Justin Mirichii who played Geoffrey is a brilliant actor, I started to consider him after I saw him on a television show, he was very contained and I thought this control over his body was very interesting. We then called him in for an audition.
In response to your second question, I have to say that I was never ever able to be hopeful when writing this story. I was doing a lot of research around the sexual abuse of boys and men and I felt suffocated by the silence and stigma that surrounded the subject. I guess this is why I could not see another end for Geoffrey, I honestly couldn't find a way for him to survive this world that I had placed him in. I am however trying to write more hopeful stories now.

It feels like this film is based on a true story. If so, what is the purpose of showing it otherwise where did you get your inspiration?

The film is not based on a true story, but I am glad that it felt like it was. I did however have the opportunity to speak with a man who is a survivor of sexual abuse and his story helped me tap into certain emotions and feelings.

Is this the first time this film has been shown at a festival? If not, what is its track record (its Awards)?

No, this is not the first time the film has shown in a festival. Shimoni premiered at the Toronto international film festival in 2022. It has shown at the Red Sea Film Festival, IFFR, FESPACO, FICCALI in Colombia, NYAFF, Cleveland International Film Festival among others. It won the Etalon Bronze in this year's edition of FESPACO, The Ousmane Sembene Grand Prix at FICAK, The Golden Award for feature length Films at the Luxor African Film Festival and The Jury Prize at the African Film Festival in Cologne.

What other film are you working on after this one ? What kind of film will it be?

I can't give many details right now, but this one will be a genre film.

Pierre Patrick TOUKO, Film Critic, Cameroon