Journalist and documentarist Serge Bilé has made a new documentary, "Côte d'Ivoire 1966," about a year he describes as decisive in the history of Côte d'Ivoire, the West African country that gained independence from France in 1960.
Journalist and documentarist Serge Bilé has made a new documentary, "Côte d'Ivoire 1966," about a year he describes as decisive in the history of Côte d'Ivoire, the West African country that gained independence from France in 1960.
In an interview with TV5MONDE published on 14 June 2026, Bilé said the history of Côte d'Ivoire, like the histories of other African countries, has often been divided up, shortened, or left incomplete. The film returns to events from 1966 that he says still shape the country today.
The documentary examines the assassination of Ernest Boka, an Ivorian politician, diplomat, and former president of the country's Supreme Court, and what Bilé describes as false plots under President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. It also covers the 1966 coup d'État in Ghana, which Bilé links to the collapse of the Sanwi kingdom's independence hopes in Côte d'Ivoire; the release of political prisoners; and Stade d'Abidjan's victory in the African Cup of Champion Clubs.
The film also looks at the growth of Ivorian television, using archive images and public figures including Pelé and Aimé Césaire. Bilé presents television as part of the formation of modern Côte d'Ivoire, because it gave Ivorian viewers a way to see themselves on screen.
The project is also personal for Bilé. The film pays tribute to his father, Marcel Bilé, described in the TV5MONDE article as an important figure at RTI, Côte d'Ivoire's public broadcaster, and to the Sanwi region, where the filmmaker is from. Bilé says the Sanwi question was handled brutally and without enough attention to the grievances involved.
A separate interview on "Décrypter l'Afrique," published on 13 June 2026, adds that "Côte d'Ivoire 1966" is available directly on Bilé's platform, sergebile.info, priced at 3,000 CFA francs, or €4.57 for viewers outside the CFA zone. In that interview, Bilé says he self-financed the film, drew on French paper archives, and includes testimony from Madeleine Boka, Ernest Boka's widow, who he says speaks publicly in the film after more than 60 years of silence.
The available material does not give a running time, full credits, production company, budget, festival plans, or sales information for "Côte d'Ivoire 1966."
Source: africanfilmpress.com