Cameroonian cinema: landmark films and their directors
From the first film by a woman director from sub-Saharan Africa to a Tiger Award in Rotterdam, Cameroon has a long film history. Here are the films that matter, those foreign directors came to shoot in the country, and the women and men who made them.
Cameroonian films
- 1963 · Documentary (short film)Tam-tam à ParisThérèse Sita-BellaThe first film directed by a woman from sub-Saharan Africa
1975 · Fiction (drama)Muna MotoJean-Pierre Dikongué-PipaCameroon's only Étalon de Yennenga- 1975 · Fiction (comedy)Pousse-PousseDaniel KamwaThe first Cameroonian film to sell more than 20,000 tickets
1991 · FictionSango MaloBassek ba KobhioA rebellious schoolteacher shakes up a village school in the Centre Region
1992 · DocumentaryAfrique, je te plumeraiJean-Marie TenoA century of Cameroonian history, from colonisation to one-party rule
1992 · Fiction (comedy)Quartier MozartJean-Pierre BekoloAn irreverent, modern urban fable that made Jean-Pierre Bekolo's name at 25- 2005 · Fiction (science fiction, thriller, horror)Les SaignantesJean-Pierre BekoloOne of Africa's first science-fiction films: a political satire set in 2025
- 2007 · Fiction (drama)Paris à tout prixJoséphine NdagnouThe dream of Paris, from Yaoundé to disillusion
2020 · Fiction (drama)The Fisherman's DiaryEnah JohnscottA fisherman's daughter who wants to go to school: the first Cameroonian film on Netflix
2023 · DocumentaryLe Spectre de Boko HaramCyrielle RaingouChildhood in the shadow of Boko Haram, winner of the Tiger Award in Rotterdam
2023 · Fiction (bordering on documentary)Mambar PierretteRosine MbakamA Douala seamstress facing the start of the school year and the rains
Foreign films shot in Cameroon
Directors from elsewhere chose Cameroon for its landscapes or because they had grown up there.
1984 · Fiction (adventure)Greystoke, la légende de TarzanHugh HudsonHugh Hudson's Tarzan found its jungle in Cameroon
1988 · Fiction (drama)ChocolatClaire DenisClaire Denis's first feature, about a colonial childhood in northern Cameroon
2009 · Fiction (drama)White MaterialClaire DenisIsabelle Huppert as a coffee planter caught in a civil war, filmed in Bamum country
Leading names of Cameroonian cinema
Directors, actors and comedians: their careers on their profiles, and their films featured here.
- Jean-Pierre BekoloThe filmmaker who upends the conventions of African cinema
On screen : Quartier Mozart (1992), Les Saignantes (2005)
- Jean-Pierre Dikongué PipaDirector of "Muna Moto", the only Cameroonian to win the Stallion of Yennenga
On screen : Muna Moto (1975)
- Daniel KamwaActor and director of "Pousse-Pousse", one of the founders of Cameroonian cinema
On screen : Pousse-Pousse (1975)
- Jean-Marie TenoDocumentary maker behind "Afrique, je te plumerai", a critical look at the colonial legacy
On screen : Afrique, je te plumerai (1992)
- Bassek ba KobhioDirector of "Sango Malo" and founder of the Écrans Noirs festival
On screen : Chocolat (1988), Sango Malo (1991)
- Thérèse Sita-BellaJournalist and director of "Tam-tam à Paris", a pioneer of African cinema
On screen : Tam-tam à Paris (1963)
- Joséphine NdagnouActress, director and producer of "Paris à tout prix", a film about emigration
On screen : Les Saignantes (2005), Paris à tout prix (2007)
- Emil Abossolo-MboStage and screen actor, from "Night on Earth" to "Plus belle la vie"
On screen : Les Saignantes (2005)
- Rosine MbakamBelgium-based documentary maker and director of "Mambar Pierrette"
On screen : Mambar Pierrette (2023)
- Cyrielle RaingouDirector of "Le Spectre de Boko Haram", winner of the 2023 Tiger Award in Rotterdam
On screen : Le Spectre de Boko Haram (2023)
- Thomas NgijolThe Jamel Comedy Club comedian turned filmmaker
- Fabrice ÉbouéBiting humour in the service of satire
- Eriq EbouaneyThe face of Patrice Lumumba on screen