PARTNERS

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 of the British Museum in London, where tens of thousands of ancient African artworks were hidden from public view....

Issiaka Konaté, Burkina Faso, 1989 SYNOPSIS: Mahama Konaté, a great Burkinabè musician, introduces his son to traditional culture and music by teaching him how to play the balafon. This film explores the socio-cultural significance of the balafon, a traditional...

Stéphane Vieyra et Dom Fred, sénégal/France, 2025

Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1961 SYNOPSIS The journey of Senegal from colonization to national sovereignty, depicted in an allegorical manner. This film was made at the dawn of Senegal’s independence. BIOFILMOGRAPHY Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (1925-1987) was a...

Djalma Fettermann/Flora Gomes/ Jose Bolama/ Josefina Crato/ Sana Na N'Hada, Guiné Bissau, 1976 SYNOPSIS The first production by Guinean film-makers after the liberation from Portuguese colonialism in 1974, O Regresso de Amílcar Cabral documents the transferral of the...

Divers, Tchad, 1960

Flora Gomes, Guinea-Bissau, 1988 SYNOPSIS: During Guinea-Bissau’s War of National Liberation in the 1970s, Diminga joins her husband Sako in the bush, where he fights against the Portuguese colonial army. A few years later, independence is achieved, peace has...

Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1966 BIOFILMOGRAPHY: Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (1925-1987) was a Senegalese filmmaker of Beninese origin and a historian of African cinema. He was the first Black African to be admitted to IDHEC (Institut des Hautes Études...

Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1981 SYNOPSIS: A behind-the-scenes look at the work of Ousmane Sembène, one of the greatest filmmakers of Black Africa, through the making of his 1979 film Ceddo. L’Envers du décor offers an intimate perspective on Sembène’s creative...

Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1971 BIOFILMOGRAPHY Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (1925-1987) was a Senegalese filmmaker of Beninese origin and a historian of African cinema. He was the first Black African to be admitted to IDHEC (Institut des Hautes Études...

Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1963 SYNOPSIS: Lamb, the traditional wrestling style of Senegal, resembles Greco-Roman wrestling and is one of the country’s most celebrated national sports. Governed by strict and unique rules, wrestlers train rigorously on the beach...

Jean-Michel Tchissoukou, Congo, 1979 SYNOPSIS In 1930s Congo, a Catholic missionary group establishes itself in a village about thirty kilometers from the regional capital. However, the villagers remain deeply attached to their traditions, and the construction of the...

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 king, whose oppressed and exhausted people rise in rebellion and ultimately overthrow him. BIOFILMOGRAPHY: Ola Balogun, born...

Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Senegal, 1971 BIOFILMOGRAPHY: Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (1925-1987) was a Senegalese filmmaker of Beninese origin and a historian of African cinema. He was the first Black African to be admitted to IDHEC (Institut des Hautes Études...

Sekou Omar Barry, Guinea, 1968 SYNOPSIS: “And Then Came Freedom” is a 40-minute documentary, a historical fresco that recounts the long struggle of the Guinean people against French colonial rule and their fight for independence. BIOFILMOGRAPHY: Sekou Omar Barry was...

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. Instantly, he is transported back several years to the moment when he was preparing to leave for France. As memories...

Ousmane Sembène, Senegal, 1988 SYNOPSIS Senegal, 1944. As the war comes to an end in Europe, a battalion of tirailleurs sénégalais arrives at the Thiaroye transit camp. As they await their demobilization, they learn that their compensation will be cut in half. A...

David Schickele, USA-Nigeria, 1971 SYNOPSIS In 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated, and the Biafra War led to a devastating famine. Gabriel fled Nigeria and now lives in San Francisco, immersed in the African-American community. In the turbulent United States of...

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 decision: he will no longer speak about cinema. Boujemâa, our living memory. The memory of Algerian cinema, African cinema,...