In Kisangani, the Democratic Republic of the Kongo, a group of high school students who cannot afford the tuition fees, try to prepare themselves for their final exams. Older pupils and a rented house nicknamed “California“ represent the centre of hope for better times. In his second feature length film Dieudo Hamadi devotes himself once more to fighting the corruption which penetrates various essential areas of his home country: In his first movie Atalaku he covered the elections, his new movie is about education. Examen d'État, an outstanding piece of „cinema vérité“, becomes more than another story about life in Africa due to it's impressive camera work. The film documents the reworking of the ideals and discontentments of the young people whose future and existence depends on one exam – the National Diploma. “With a concise narrative, precise camera work and sequential oozing moments of candid (and sometimes inadvertent) humor and heartrending emotions, Congolese director Dieudo Hamadi’s second feature-length film offers a poised and engaging view of his hometown’s high-school students confronting their graduate exams. A remarkable piece of cinema vérité, which goes mightily up close to its subjects, National Diploma is proof of Hamadi as one of Democratic Republic of Congo’s (if not Africa’s) most observant documentary-makers.” (Clarence Tsui, Hollywood Reporter) *_Tickets via Filmmuseum_*