PROCES MBAKO, ANIOTO HOMME LEOPARD

1933, Wamba, northeastern Belgian Congo. A man and his clan are accused of murdering accomplices of the colonial occupation, carrying out a series of shadowy leopard-like killings in the night. To the colonials he was a terrorist, for the Congolese, a hero of resistance. PROCÈS MBAKO, ANIOTO HOMME LÉOPARD MYTHE ET RÉALITÉ chronicles the little documented saga of the Anioto-Leopard men, a secret militia that carried out the sentences of traditional leaders, killing their marks with claw like knives in the style of a leopard. Using a hybrid mix of recreations, animations, and interviews, the film explores the trial of Mbako, one of the Leopard Men leaders who was ultimately hanged for his crimes. What emerges is a complex portrait of the traditions and culture that gave rise to the Anioto Leopard Men. Who were they? What was their role in Congolese society? And what were their real or supposed mystical powers?