The African Doctor
Short description
In 1975, Seyolo Zantoko, a doctor from the Congo, settles in the small northern French village of Marly-Gomont with his wife and children after fleeing a tyrannical regime. He has been hired as the local doctor by the mayor, but the family soon finds that the villagers have never encountered Black people before and greet them with fear and suspicion. Seyolo sets out to win their trust and make a life for himself and his family in a place that does not want them.
The African Doctor is a French-Belgian comedy directed by Julien Rambaldi, his first feature, released in 2016. Rambaldi wrote the screenplay with Benoît Graffin and Kamini Zantoko, on whose family story it is based. Marc Zinga plays Seyolo, with Aïssa Maïga as his wife Anne, Jonathan Lambert as Mayor Lavigne and Rufus as Jean. The large credited cast numbers 36. On IMDb the film holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from around 12,000 votes, and on TMDB it scores 6.8 out of 10 from roughly 680 votes, indicating a well-liked film among those who have seen it. Rambaldi's next feature, The Nannies, followed in 2022.
What's left behind the scenes
- Based on real events. The father of the rapper Kamini received a medical education in his native Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), after which he became a doctor (the only one) in the French village of Marley-Gomont. Kamini grew up there and in 2006 recorded a music video about the village. He filmed it with friends on a video camera. The song of the same name talks about the difference between life in the village and life in the big city, about what it’s like to be the only black person around, and about the prejudice he faced because of it. Kamini uploaded the song to “YouTube,” where it caused a sensation, and two months later he signed a contract with “RCA”.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
