Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersIndependent Spirit AwardsWomen's History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Small Country: An African Childhood

Original title: Petit pays
  • 2020
  • 1h 51m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
685
YOUR RATING
Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
Watch Bande-annonce [OV]
Play trailer1:45
1 Video
13 Photos
Drama

A touching childhood set during the conflict in Rwanda between ethnicities Hutu and Tutsi - adapted from the book of Gaël Faye.A touching childhood set during the conflict in Rwanda between ethnicities Hutu and Tutsi - adapted from the book of Gaël Faye.A touching childhood set during the conflict in Rwanda between ethnicities Hutu and Tutsi - adapted from the book of Gaël Faye.

  • Director
    • Eric Barbier
  • Writers
    • Gaël Faye
    • Eric Barbier
  • Stars
    • Jean-Paul Rouve
    • Isabelle Kabano
    • Djibril Vancoppenolle
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    685
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Eric Barbier
    • Writers
      • Gaël Faye
      • Eric Barbier
    • Stars
      • Jean-Paul Rouve
      • Isabelle Kabano
      • Djibril Vancoppenolle
    • 3User reviews
    • 12Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 4 nominations

    Videos1

    Bande-annonce [OV]
    Trailer 1:45
    Watch Bande-annonce [OV]

    Photos13

    Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Djibril Vancoppenolle in Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Jean-Paul Rouve in Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Isabelle Kabano in Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Djibril Vancoppenolle in Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Djibril Vancoppenolle in Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Djibril Vancoppenolle in Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Jean-Paul Rouve, Djibril Vancoppenolle, and Dayla De Medina in Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Djibril Vancoppenolle in Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Eric Barbier and Djibril Vancoppenolle in Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Eric Barbier, Jean-Paul Rouve, Djibril Vancoppenolle, and Isabelle Kabano at an event for Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jean-Paul Rouve
    Jean-Paul Rouve
    • Michel Chappaz
    Isabelle Kabano
    • Yvonne Chappaz
    Djibril Vancoppenolle
    • Gabriel Chappaz dit Gaby
    Dayla De Medina
    • Ana Chappaz
    Tao Monladja
    • Gino
    Ruben Ruhanamilindi
    • Armand
    Brian Gakwavu
    • Lucien
    Kenny Hubbawive
    • Paul
    • (as Kenny Hubawiwe)
    Nelson Membe
    • Francis
    • (as Nelson Mbembe)
    Edouard Niyonteze
    • Prothé
    Elvis Nahimana
    • Innocent
    Veronika Varga
    Veronika Varga
    • Madame Economopoulos
    Joseph Amani Ndume
    • Pascal
    Chloé Gasaro
    • Felicite
    Benny Bumako
    • Pacifique
    • (as Benny Beyor Bumako)
    Tatiana Nikuze
    • Mariana
    Febronie Mukamabano
    • Rosalie
    Florentine Kabasinga
    • Eusébie
    • Director
      • Eric Barbier
    • Writers
      • Gaël Faye(novel)
      • Eric Barbier(scenario, adaptation and dialogue)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    The Things We Say, the Things We Do
    6.9
    The Things We Say, the Things We Do
    Bye Bye Morons
    6.7
    Bye Bye Morons
    Appearances
    6.1
    Appearances
    Delete History
    5.8
    Delete History
    The Girl with a Bracelet
    6.6
    The Girl with a Bracelet
    My Donkey, My Lover & I
    6.5
    My Donkey, My Lover & I
    The Night Doctor
    6.6
    The Night Doctor
    Enormous
    5.8
    Enormous
    Casablanca Beats
    5.9
    Casablanca Beats
    Yalda, a Night for Forgivness
    6.4
    Yalda, a Night for Forgivness
    Promise at Dawn
    7.1
    Promise at Dawn
    Josep
    7.4
    Josep

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      French visa # 150170.
    • Connections
      Features Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
    • Soundtracks
      Petit pays
      Written and performed by Gaël Faye.

    User reviews3

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    3/10
    Ambitious, but lost in itself and ultimately just bad
    Had high hopes for this. Hotel Rwanda is one of my top movies and I expected similar here except for a hotel, the setting would be a family. I was expecting ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU set during the Rwanda massacres.

    Alas, that's not that this movie is about. This movie literally throws in everything and the kitchen sink trying to bring up all sorts of topics and completely loses itself over and over. The cast is not good and half of it serves no purpose. It appears to be there for some emotional appeal but such is not developed. The characters are bland, flat out rude, distant, acting as if they just met on a set and decided they need to read their lines and go do something else....

    The movie also suffers from historical accuracy of set decor; it is way too westernized, contradictory to how life was in africa in the 80s and early 90s. I can forgive some things but when the cast trots around dressed as if they are strolling in paris, I take an objection to that!

    Short way to put it, it lacks grit. And you cannot have african civil war without grit; if you cannot convey the basic elements that you are in 90s Rwanda/burundi/etc amidst a looming and impending crisis, what are you doing trying to direct anything? You have already failed and you should have your project cancelled.

    I just did not care. No memorable scenes, no character development - i mean who are 90% of the people on screen type issues. Bland and boring cast. There is no other way to put it... Just not done well. Then it becomes downright offensive as it inserts edited footage of the cast to pass it off as original 90s vhs footage of real life. Just stop. The ending had me rolling my eyes too, and yes that too, was emotionless and pointless.

    The only people who will like this are those who will not watch it but will imagine what they want it to be. If you watch it and have any background knowledge of what took place there and how life was, this movie will simply offend with its lifeless interpretations of every scene.
    helpful•0
    0
    • idonotexist
    • Aug 15, 2022

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 28, 2020 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • Belgium
    • Languages
      • French
      • Kirundi
      • Swahili
    • Also known as
      • Petit pays
    • Filming locations
      • Rwanda(Burundi, Burumbura, Kigali, Zaïre)
    • Production companies
      • Jerico
      • Super 8 Production
      • Pathé
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • €5,200,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $2,590,927
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 51 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Small Country: An African Childhood (2020)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Small Country: An African Childhood (2020) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.