This is the retrospective section of the history of the beginning of African cinema, with restored 35mm classic films, some of which are being shown for the first time under the “FESPACO Classics” section. This section shall include ten (10) films, including four (4) suggested by FESPACO, three (3) by the French Institute, and three (3) by other entities to be identified. No prize is awarded under this section.
FESPACO CLASIC 2025
You Hide Me
Nii Kwate Owoo, Ghana, 1970 SYNOPSIS: In 1970, young Ghanaian filmmaker Nii Kwate Owoo was granted access to film for a day inside the storage rooms...
Yiri Kan, The Voice of Wood
Issiaka Konaté, Burkina Faso, 1989 SYNOPSIS: Mahama Konaté, a great Burkinabè musician, introduces his son to traditional culture and music by...
Vieyra le précurseur
Stéphane Vieyra et Dom Fred, sénégal/France, 2025
A Nation is Born
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1961 SYNOPSIS The journey of Senegal from colonization to national sovereignty, depicted in an allegorical manner....
O Regresso de Amilcar Cabral
Djalma Fettermann/Flora Gomes/ Jose Bolama/ Josefina Crato/ Sana Na N'Hada, Guiné Bissau, 1976 SYNOPSIS The first production by Guinean film-makers...
LES ACTUALITES TCHADIENNE
Divers, Tchad, 1960
MORTU NEGA
Flora Gomes, Guinea-Bissau, 1988 SYNOPSIS: During Guinea-Bissau’s War of National Liberation in the 1970s, Diminga joins her husband Sako in the...
Les actualités sénégalaises
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1966 BIOFILMOGRAPHY: Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (1925-1987) was a Senegalese filmmaker of Beninese origin and a...
L’ENVERS DU DÉCOR
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1981 SYNOPSIS: A behind-the-scenes look at the work of Ousmane Sembène, one of the greatest filmmakers of Black...
Le Sénégal et le Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1971 BIOFILMOGRAPHY Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (1925-1987) was a Senegalese filmmaker of Beninese origin and a...
LAMB
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1963 SYNOPSIS: Lamb, the traditional wrestling style of Senegal, resembles Greco-Roman wrestling and is one of the...
LA CHAPELLE
Jean-Michel Tchissoukou, Congo, 1979 SYNOPSIS In 1930s Congo, a Catholic missionary group establishes itself in a village about thirty kilometers...
IJA OMINIRA (FIGHT FOR FREEDOM)
Ola Balogun, Nigeria, 1978 SYNOPSIS: Ija Ominira is the cinematic adaptation of a novel by Faleti. It tells the story of a tyrannical and cruel...
Ife, 3rd Festival of Arts
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1971 BIOFILMOGRAPHY: Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (1925-1987) was a Senegalese filmmaker of Beninese origin and a...
And Then Came Freedom
Sekou Omar Barry, Guinea, 1968 SYNOPSIS: “And Then Came Freedom” is a 40-minute documentary, a historical fresco that recounts the long struggle of...
It Was Four Years Ago
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1954 SYNOPSIS An African student sits at his desk, studying, when he hears a song from his homeland on the radio....
CAMP DE THIAROYE
Ousmane Sembène, Senegal, 1988 SYNOPSIS Senegal, 1944. As the war comes to an end in Europe, a battalion of tirailleurs sénégalais arrives at the...
Bushman
David Schickele, USA-Nigeria, 1971 SYNOPSIS In 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated, and the Biafra War led to a devastating famine. Gabriel...
Boujemaa and the House of Cinema
Mohammed Latrèche, France - Algeria, 2019 SYNOPSIS He is a 75-year-old man, half-blind, who takes 3,000 steps every day. Since 2004, he made a...
Africa on the Seine
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Mamadou SARR, Senegal, 1955 SYNOPSIS: Is Africa truly in Africa, or does it exist on the banks of the Seine? This film...