Maxime Jean-Baptiste Bows Feature Debut ‘Listen to the Voices,’ About Grief, Forgiveness, the Persisting Consequences of Colonialism
variety.comMaxime Jean-Baptiste, director of “Listen to the Voices”(“Kouté vwa”)– showing in the Filmmakers of the Present section at the Locarno Film Festival and sold by MoreThan Films– wanted to avoid at all costs.
When asked by Variety about how he aimed to depict Guiana, Jean-Baptiste mentions, as a counter example, “Jean Galmot, Aventurier,” a French ‘70s adventure film, in which his father was an extra – something essential in his shorts “Nou Voix” (2018) and “Moune Ô” (2021).
In fact, most of Jean-Baptiste’s work is a family matter – besides those titles, he co-directed “Listen to the Bear of Our Images” (2021) with Audrey Jean-Baptiste, his sister, who also co-wrote “Listen to the Voices.” What makes “Listen to the Voices” a family matter is not only this collaboration, but the personal tragedy that set it in motion.
The director’s cousin, Lucas Diomar, was brutally killed in 2012, plunging his family into an abyss of grief from which they have not yet emerged.
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