Fespaco 2021, the new challenge for “African and diaspora cinemas”
The Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Fespaco) will take place from October 16 to 23, 2021 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
© Fespaco 2021
Text by: Siegfried Forster Follow
5 mins
Among the 1,132 films registered, 239 films from 50 countries were chosen for the great festival of African cinema which will take place from October 16 to 23 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
The official selection of Fespaco 2021 was announced this Thursday, September 9 in the morning at Ciné Burkina in the Burkinabè capital and transmitted live on Facebook.
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Alex Moussa Sawadogo, presented as the man "
who no longer sleeps since his appointment at the head of Fespaco
", the largest film festival in Africa, promises for the 27th edition a renewed and diversified festival.
“
Cinemas from Africa and the Diaspora.
New perspectives, new challenges
”is the leitmotif of this“
exceptional from all points of view
”
edition
of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Fespaco), with a president of the prestigious jury, the Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, assisted among others by the Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop, member of the jury.
"
The vitality of the 7th art on the African continent
"
Initially scheduled for February, it was postponed to October, following the health crisis linked to Covid-19.
Faced with the security and health concerns of Burkina Faso, Élise Foniyama Ilboudo Thiombiano, Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism in Burkina Faso, affirmed: “
The government will take all health and security measures for the smooth running of Fespaco.
For her, the record candidacy of 1132 films "
testifies to the vitality of the 7th art on the African continent
".
"
The great return of Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
"
In the feature film category, the king section of the competition, Alex Moussa Sawadogo welcomed the “
great return of Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
”, with the new film from the Chadian director,
Lingui
. Egypt will be the only country with two films in competition including
Souad
, by Ayten Amin, and
Feathers
, by Omar El Zohairy. Angola is also in contention for the Stallion of Yennenga with
Air conditionner
, of Fradique and Mario Bastos. The host country will be represented by director Boubacar Diallo with
Les trois Lascars
.
The presence of a maximum of African countries at the largest cultural event on the continent seems to be one of the red threads of this edition.
Among the 17 films selected in the feature film category, there are 16 nationalities represented, including countries virtually unknown on the world cinema map, such as Lesotho with
This is not a burial, it'sa resurrection
, by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, Somalia with
The Gravedigger's Wife
, by Ahmed Khadar, or Namibian director Desiree Kahikopo-Meiffret with
The White Line
.
Senegal, country of honor for the 27th Fespaco
Senegal, country of honor for this 27th edition, will mark the spirits of spectators with
The Father of Nafi
, directed by Mamadou Dia. But the neighboring country will also have the honor of a statue of director
Alain Gomis
, double winner of the Yennenga Gold Standard, erected on the same avenue des cinéastes where the sculpture of the legendary Sembne Ousmane is already located.
With 239 films selected from around ten programs (feature film, feature documentary, a new Burkina section “
to show the dynamics of the film industry in our country
”, a Perspective section “
for the rising generation
”, Panorama… and even a section for children, Sukabe, without forgetting the Classics animation section with 31 films on 86 years of African animation cinema), Fespaco is not content to be the showcase of African cinema, but aims to be a bridge between generations and a driving force behind the cinema of the future.
The selection committee, equal and diversified
This extremely diverse selection is also the reflection of a reorganization of the selection committee.
With seven members including three women, it is not far from parity while integrating specialists in African cinema, but also producers, filmmakers, researchers and a curator.
A team from seven African countries: Pedro Pimenta (Mozambique), Djia Mambu (DRC), Thierno Ibrahima Dia (Senegal), Katarina Hedrén (Ethiopia), Lina Chabanne (Tunisia), Boubacar Sangaré (Burkina Faso), Guy Désiré Yaméogo ( Burkina Faso), Laza Razajanatovo (Madagascar).
Who is Alex Moussa Sawadogo?
But the biggest paradigm shift remains the new Director General of Fespaco, Alex Moussa Sawadogo. Oscillating between Burkina Faso and Germany, this holder of a master's degree in Art History from the University of Ouagadougou and a professional master's degree in cultural and media management obtained in Hamburg, Germany, was director program and jury member in many festivals, from Switzerland through Israel and South Korea, to the Documentary Meetings of Koudougou in Burkina.
Born in 1974 in Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast, this father of two children and great lover of cinema made a name for himself above all by creating the Berlin African Film Festival in 2007.
Since then Sawadogo officiates in
Afrikamera
as artistic director.
With his appointment in October 2020 at the head of Fespaco, he has certainly changed category, and the festival perhaps too.
► 27th Fespaco, from October 16 to 23
The list of 17 feature films in competition at Fespaco 2021:
Air conditioner
, by Mario Bastos (Angola)
Baamum Nafi
, from Mamadou Dia (Senegal)
Bendskins (Moto Taxi)
, by Narcise Wandji (Cameroon)
Eyimofe (This is my desire)
, by Chuko Esiri (Nigeria)
Farewell Amor
, by Ekwa Msangi (Tanzania)
Feathers
, by Omar El Zohainy (Egypt)
Freda
, by Gessica Geneus (Haiti)
The Gravedigger's Wife
, by Ahmed Khadar (Somalia)
Night of the Kings
, by Philippe Lacôte (Ivory Coast)
The Three Lascars
, Boubakar Diallo (Burkina Faso)
Lingui, the sacred ties
, by Haroun Mahamat-Saleh (Chad)
Nameless (The Anonymous)
, by Wa Nkunda Mutiganda (Rwanda)
Oliver Black
, from Tawfik Baba (Morocco)
Souad
, by Amin Ayten (Egypt)
The White Line
, by Desireee Kahikopo-Meiffret (Namibia)
This is not a burial, it is a resurrection
, by Jeremiah Lemohang Mosese (Lesotho)
A story of love and desire
, by Leyla Bouzid (Tunisia)
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