Photo : Olivier Barlet, CC BY-SA 4.0
Jean-Pierre Bekolo
The filmmaker who upends the conventions of African cinema
Born in 1966
Related city : Yaoundé
On screen : Quartier Mozart (1992), Les Saignantes (2005)
Who are they?
A director born in Yaoundé in 1966. After studying physics at the University of Yaoundé and film editing at France's Institut national de l'audiovisuel, he worked as an editor for Cameroonian television before turning to directing.
What made them famous
His first feature, "Quartier Mozart" (1992), unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival when he was 25, transposes a fantastical folk tale to a Yaoundé neighbourhood; it won awards at Locarno and Montreal, among others. The British Film Institute then commissioned "Aristotle's Plot" (1996) for its series marking the centenary of cinema.
Key facts
- "Les Saignantes" (2005), a futuristic film about corruption, won the Silver Stallion of Yennenga at Fespaco in 2007.
- Winner of the Prince Claus Award, presented in the Netherlands, in 2015.
- He has taught filmmaking in the United States, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Virginia Tech and Duke University.