Mbako Anioto Trial, Leopard Man, Myth and Reality

2023 • Directed by

Jean-Michel Kibuski

Documentary

1933, North-East Congo: The Belgian colonial authorities accuse a group of men of being Aniotos, men who kill like the leopard. There is no visual documentation of the hearings, and the Congolese animator Kibushi re-imagines the events through animations, re-enactments, and interviews, challenging Western depictions of the leopard men as a ‘Savage Other’ and the colonisers’ understanding of socio-political order and justice.