Koko Suzanne
TITLE
Koko Suzanne
DIRECTOR
Zach Bandler
COUNTRY
Congo, Ireland, USA
YEAR
2025
DURATION
17′
GENRE
Fiction
Koko Suzanne
Based on true events, a young girl's life is turned upside down when her grandmother's strange behaviour sparks fears of witchcraft. As her family struggles to reconcile illness with the supernatural, she must navigate the streets of Kinshasa in order to protect the grandmother she knows and loves.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY - Zach Bandler
Zach is an Atlantic Fellow for Equity In Brain Health with the Global Brain Health Institute in Dublin, Ireland, where he collaborates internationally on narratives about health and social equity. He is an academic author on the neurobiological value of hope and empathy, and presently co-leads a research study investigating family food history and memory resilience in people living with dementia. As a director and screenwriter, his drama short 'The Lightkeeper' (2018) was selected as the final recipient of the CINE Golden Eagle Award for Narrative Film, an award recognising early-career filmmakers since 1962. It is "Best of the Month" on Omeleto, YouTube's largest short film channel. Zach's feature film screenplay 'Land of the Young" was named by Francis Ford Coppola as winner of the 2023 American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition, and was a Semifinalist in the 2024 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. His screenplays have also been Finalists in the ScreenCraft Feature Competition, ScreenCraft Film Fund, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards and Cinequest Screenwriting Competition. His taboo medical comedy "Torn" (2019) premiered online with Director's Notes and his LGBTQ+ drama "The Stairs" (2016) was the Audience Award winner at the Ashland Independent Film Festival.
- DirectorZach Bandler
- Screenplay Zach Bandler & Emmanuel Epenge
- Cinematography Jon Keng
- CastAlphie Lotawa, Clothilde Masele, Flavien Muaba Assani, Émie Mokonzi, Emmanuel Epenge, Romain Ndomba, Star Lotawa, Linda Ikwa, Jeff Lubadi
- Editing Jake Allyn
- Producer/s Victor Mazzone, Emmanuel Lupia, Patience Katushabe
- Production Company
- Distributor/s
- Project TitleKoko Suzanne
- Project TypeFiction
- Completion Date1 January 2025
- Country of originCongo, Ireland, USA
- Country of filmingCongo, Ireland, USA
- LanguageOther
- First-time Filmmaker No
- Student ProjectNo
Zach Bandler
Zach is an Atlantic Fellow for Equity In Brain Health with the Global Brain Health Institute in Dublin, Ireland, where he collaborates internationally on narratives about health and social equity. He is an academic author on the neurobiological value of hope and empathy, and presently co-leads a research study investigating family food history and memory resilience in people living with dementia. As a director and screenwriter, his drama short 'The Lightkeeper' (2018) was selected as the final recipient of the CINE Golden Eagle Award for Narrative Film, an award recognising early-career filmmakers since 1962. It is "Best of the Month" on Omeleto, YouTube's largest short film channel. Zach's feature film screenplay 'Land of the Young" was named by Francis Ford Coppola as winner of the 2023 American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition, and was a Semifinalist in the 2024 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. His screenplays have also been Finalists in the ScreenCraft Feature Competition, ScreenCraft Film Fund, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards and Cinequest Screenwriting Competition. His taboo medical comedy "Torn" (2019) premiered online with Director's Notes and his LGBTQ+ drama "The Stairs" (2016) was the Audience Award winner at the Ashland Independent Film Festival.
