Month: June 2021

The General Delegate of FESPACO informs the professionals of African cinema and audiovisual and the Diaspora, the partners of the Festival and media professionals, researchers in cinema and audiovisual, personalities from the world of arts and culture, that given the global context marked by the pandemic of COVID-19 which still remains a concern, the 27th edition of the biennial, initially scheduled for February 27 to March 6, 2021 is postponed to a later date.

The new dates of the edition will be communicated to you as soon as possible.
While regretting any inconvenience caused by this postponement, the General Delegate, on behalf of the highest authorities of Burkina Faso, thanks all film professionals for the interest always shown in FESPACO, through the registration of their various works for this edition and previous editions.

It also expresses our gratitude to the partners and media professionals for their constant support and their unfailing accompaniment to FESPACO.

We remain convinced that despite the adversity we are going through, together we will win the challenge of organizing FESPACO 2021.

Long live the Cinemas of Africa and the Diaspora, long live FESPACO!

The General Delegation of FESPACO informs African and Diaspora cinema and audiovisual professionals that the 27th edition of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), initially scheduled from February 27 to March 6, 2021, is postponed to a later date.

To this end, all registrations (films, accreditations, MICA …) continue until March 31, 2021 through the link “registration.fespaco 2021″.

In addition, any director and/or producer wishing to return the improved version of his film or the final copy is kindly requested to send it to the email address ” inscription@fespaco.org “.

The General Delegation of FESPACO would like to thank you for your continued interest in the institution.

Happy New Year 2021 to all of you.

Long live African and Diaspora Cinema, long live FESPACO!

Delegate General of FESPACO Alex Moussa SAWADOGO has identified the selection committee members who will be responsible for defining FESPACO 2021 programme. The rescheduling of the Festival gives time to the newly appointed team to kick-off the selection process as quickly as possible and under good conditions.

Alex Moussa Sawadogo will be accompanied by a team of professionals with robust background in the African and global film industry. This team of strong and diverse profiles will definitely facilitate the exploration of an increasingly diversified African cinematic landscape.

The committee is made up of the following:

Pedro Pimenta / Mozambique: Film producer and consultant, artistic director, Pedro contributed to many cinematic projects and initiatives such as Ebano Multimedia (Mozambique), a UNESCO Project, Zimbabwe Film & Video Training, Dockanema, and more. He also served as artistic director for the Durban International Film Festival.

Djia Mambu / DR Congo: Belgian-Congolese journalist, film critic and author, Djia is a member of the African Federation of Film Critics (FACC). She worked with several editorial boards including Africultures, Africiné or TV5 Afrique newscast. Djia Mambu also joined the programming committee of the Namur International Francophone Film Festival (FIFF) in Belgium.

Thierno Ibrahima Dia / Senegal: Art researcher and journalist, Thierno lectures comparative cinema since 1999 at the University of Bordeaux Montaigne and also in Niamey. Editor-in-chief for Africiné Magazine (www.africine.org, Dakar), he is the author of many books, articles, training events and conferences globally (Milan, Luxor, Science Po Bordeaux, INALCO, Libreville, Durban, and more). Former editorial manager of Images Francophones (OIF, 2012 to 2018), Thierno Ibrahima Dia has worked with Africultures since 2004.

Katarina Hedren / Ethiopia: Film curator and critic, Katarina resides in South Africa. She worked as film curator and co-curator for Stockholm CinemAfrica Film Festival, Johannesburg First Wednesday Film Club, South Africa European Film Festival, Addis-Ababa African Film Week, and London Film Africa, to name a few. Katarina provides regular support as a consultant, advisor, mentor, speaker and moderator to film festivals, markets and funds and other events around the world.

Lina Chabanne / Tunisia: is the Executive producer of such feature films as “Satin Rouge”, “Les Secrets” and “Corps étranger” by Raja Amari; “Inhebbek Hédi” and “Weldi” by Mohamed Ben Attia. She has sat on the education committee of the script development workshop SUD ECRITURE since 1997 and Med Film Factory, a training programme for Arab producers and directors since 2014. Organizer of the JCC projects workshop from 1992 to 2006, she was a member of both the management and selection committees of the same festival in 2008, 2010 and 2014. Lina is currently a member of the selection committee and served as executive director for the Tunisia Mediterranean Festival, Manarat, in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Boubacar Sangaré / Burkina Faso: is a Doctorate in Law on the principle of Territoriality and Construction of a Single Francophone Film and Audiovisual space in the UEMOA region in Africa. From 2012 to 2015, he worked with the association Semfilms as a member of both the selection and programming committees for Ciné Droit Libre festival. He also served as Africa Cooperation mission officer with the National Film Centre, CNC France. In this capacity, he contributed to the establishment of “Young Francophone Creation” (JCF) fund. In addition, he worked as programme officer at TV5 Monde content and programming department and then as consultant for series contents developed by TV5MONDE.

Guy Désiré Yaméogo / Burkina Faso:  Lecturer at the Higher Institute of Image and Sound (ISIS) in Ouagadougou, director and scriptwriter Guy-Désiré holds a degree in Sociology from the University of Ouagadougou. He also received a scriptwriting training at the Havana Film and TV School in Cuba. Since his debut film ‘’Si longue que soit la nuit”, awarded at Cannes festival in 1997, Guy-Désiré Yaméogo has been a very prolific author, directing a dozen fictional short and feature films and documentaries as well. Writer of many Burkinabe films, he has worked for a very long time at FESPACO as artistic adviser to the Delegate General.

Laza Razajanatovo / Madagascar: Initiator and director of “Rencontres du Film Court de Madagasikara (RFC)” festival, Laza has produced the works of most young Malagasy directors over the past 15 years. President of APASER (Pan-African Alliance of Screenwriters and Directors), he is strongly involved in projects for the defence of African authors’ rights. Laza was a member of the film commission for OIF Fonds Image de la francophonie and jury member for numerous film festivals, including FESPACO, JCC, Berlin Interfilm, Kenya International Film Festival (KIFF), Africa and Islands International Film Festival and Comoros International Film.

The new selection committee will be tasked with assisting the artistic delegate in defining the programme for the 27th Edition of FESPACO.

The Delegate General said, ‘’For a festival of the size of FESPACO, it is more than critical to have a selection committee comprised of motivated professionals whose skills and experience provide diverse insights that fully reflect the ambitions of an international festival; a festival desiring to meet the challenges of its time “

The Management of FESPACO is working in compliance with the health rules in force to offer a full edition that is scheduled to take place the last quarter of the year 2021. The final dates will soon be announced.

The extended call for films closes on 31 March 2021.

“The Mercy of Jungle » by Joel Karekezi, Rwanda, won the Etalon d’or de Yennenga at the 26th Edition of the Pan-African Film & TV Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO). The winner received his trophy on the evening of Saturday 2nd March 2019 during the official closing ceremony of the 26th Edition of the African film biennale, coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the Festival, at Palais des Sports Ouaga 2000. Filmmaker Karekezi considers this award as an invite to move forward from which he intends to get more to work.

“A war hero and a young soldier are caught up in merciless battles in a jungle. They will have to cope with life in this hellish forest and make choices”. This is the storyline of the winning film of the Etalon d’or de Yennenga at the 26th Edition of FESPACO. According to the director of FESPACO 2019 Grand prize-winning film, this reward follows years of hard work, responding to media people on whether this prize has been a surprise for him.

“It’s more or less! The good news is that there were very good films in the competition. And winning the grand prize, I think it’s fair. Well, we are going to celebrate but we will keep on working hard”, director Joel Karekezi said.

The director of this FESPACO edition best film received his prize from President of Faso Roch Marc Christian KABORE, accompanied by Paul KAGAME, President of Rwanda, guest of honour for the fiftieth anniversary of the Festival.

President of Faso Roch Marc Christian KABORE said that the successful holding of this international cultural event this year is a pretty sure bet for Burkina Faso and the entire continent.

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita argued for artists, stating that they should be able to make a living out of their art and that they deserve further consideration. “It’s not normal for an African filmmaker to be forced into begging”, he told journalists as he was leaving the Palais des Sports Ouaga 2000.

In addition to the Etalon d’or de Yennenga, many other prizes were awarded in various categories to several filmmakers, actors and actresses.

Clearly, FESPACO works well for Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis. After winning the 2013 Etalon d’or de Yennenga with “Tey”, he stood again on the top step of the podium at this 25th Edition with his recent work ‘’Félicité’’. The official prize-list of this year’s edition was announced in the evening of March 4th, 2017 at Palias des Sports Ouaga 2000.

Young French-Senegalese director Alain Gomis is in the process of entering the history of African cinema at FESPACO. Indeed, he won in 2013 the festival’s most coveted trophy with his film ‘’Tey’’. Four years later, he was back with ‘’Félicité’’ and became the 23th African filmmaker winning the Etalon d’or de Yennenga.

Alain Gomis is in the history of the African cinema biennale the second director after Souleymane Cissé to win twice the festival’s Grand Prize. The jury chaired by Moroccan Noureddine Saïl commended the “quality of the topic, the extraordinary power and rigour of the technique” of the film