Zeka Laplaine

Zeka Laplaine (born 1960), sometimes credited as José Laplaine,^[1] is a director and actor from Ilebo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.^[2][3] The child of a Portuguese father and Congolese mother,^[4] he moved to Europe when he was 18.^[5] His 1996 short film Le Clandestin was featured at the 2010 Amakula International Film Festival in Uganda.^[6] He portrayed a cowboy alongside Danny Glover in Death in Timbuktu, a film within a film in the Council of Europe Film Award-winning film, Bamako.^[7][8] Laplaine is a member of France's "Guilde Africaine des Realisateurs et Producteurs".^[9]

Zeka Leplaine
Born	1960
Nationality	Democratic Republic of Congo
Occupation	Actor Director
Notable work	Macadam Tribu

Laplaine's first short film was Le Clandestin,^[4] which he wrote, directed and acted in (playing a policeman in charge of a container dock in Lisbon).^[4] A French production set in Portugal,^[10] Le Clandestin examines African emigration and questions the dream of Europe as a "Northern Paradise" for immigrants.^[4][11]

Filmography

Year	Film	Plot
1996	Le Clandestin[3][12]	A young African man jumps out of a container at Lisbon harbour. Attempting to meet his cousin in town, he is pursued by a policeman. He never meets cousin, and eventually decides to return to Africa.[4]
1996	Macadam Tribu[1][12]	Set in Kinshasa, the film shows "unauthorised communities" forming within the official city, and the struggle of characters to survive. A community project—a theatrical production about popular rebellion—provides the backdrop to the fall of President Mobutu Sese Seko.[4][13]
2001	Paris: XY[1][12]
2003	Le Jardin de Papa[1][12]	A French couple honeymoon in Dakar.[4]
2006	Kinshasa Palace[12][14]
2007	Le Lac Sacré[12]

Actor

Year	Film	Role
1996	Le Clandestin	A policeman.[3][4]
1996	Terra Estrangeira	Loli[15]
2001	Paris: XY	Max.[1]
2006	Bamako by Abderrahmane Sissako	A cowboy.[3]
2007	Teranga Blues by Moussa Sene Absa	Zéka.[3][16]