The Human Pyramid

A docufiction set in a high school in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, during the late colonial period. The film brings together African and French students and asks them to improvise their interactions. Rouch encourages the group to explore everyday social dynamics, particularly friendship, attraction, and racial tensions, within a fictional framework that blends with real-life behavior. As the students play versions of themselves, the film exposes underlying prejudices, misunderstandings, and desires shaped by the colonial context.