Apolline Traoré (born 1976) is a Burkinabé filmmaker and producer.

Biography

She was born in 1976 in

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's ...

. Her father's profession, a diplomat, led to her travelling the world. At the age of 17, her family moved to the United States and she began her studies at Emerson College in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, a well known institution in the field of art and communication. In the 2000s, she directed several short films, including ''The Price of Ignorance'' in 2000 (about a Bostonian rape victim) and ''Kounandi'' in 2003, which was selected for the

2004 Toronto International Film Festival The 29th Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 9 through September 18. The festival screened 328 films of which 253 were features and 75 were shorts (148 of the films screened were in a language other than English). Awards No fi ...

. She produced her own feature film, ''Sous la clarté de la lune'', in 2004. She returned to Burkina Faso in 2005 and started working with Idrissa Ouédraogo. In 2008, she directed a television series, ''Le testament''. The feature films that made her known were ''Moi Zaphira'' (2013) and ''Frontières'' (2018), a film awards two prizes in February 2017 at

Fespaco The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou or FESPACO) is a film festival in Burkina Faso, held biennially in Ouagadougou, where the organization is based. It ...

, a film festival of

. On 2019 she submitted Desrances, her fourth feature film, to Fespaco and received the award of the best design. In addition to Fespaco, the film has received several awards and honors internationally. In December 2019, the film won three awards at the Kerala International Festival in India. In the same year (2019), this fourth feature film was distinguished with three awards at Sotigui Awards: Sotigui for Best Youngest African Actor 2019 with Nemlin Jemima Naomi, the Sotigui for Best Actor in African Cinema in the Diaspora and the Sotigui d'or 2019 which went to the Haitian actor

Jimmy Jean-Louis Jimmy Jean-Louis (born August 8, 1968) is a Haitian actor and producer. Born in Pétion-Ville, he moved to Paris at a young age with his family in search of a better life. His early roles were in French television commercials and Spanish musical ...

. At

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

, the film won the Grand Prix Buste d'or

Paulin Soumanou Vieyra Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (31 January 1925 – 4 November 1987) was a Dahomeyan/Senegalese film director and historian. As he lived in Senegal after the age of 10, he is more associated with that nation. Background He was born in Porto Novo, Da ...

in 2019 at the Rencontres cinématographiques et numériques de Cotonou (Recico). Apolline Traoré has received several honors for her commitment to culture and the advancement of women. In particular, she received the medal for the fight of women in cinema during the

Luxor African Film Festival The Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF) is an annual film festival for African cinema in Luxor, Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning th ...

. In 2019, she was distinguished as a Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite, des Arts, des Lettres et de la Communication and in 2020, she was installed as an Ambassador of the National Museum of

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to ...

Filmography

* ''Desrances'' (2019) * ''Frontières'' (2017) * ''Moi Zaphira'' (2013) * ''La testament'' (2008) * ''Sous la clarté de la lune'' (2004) * ''Kounandi'' (2003) * ''Monia et Rama'' (2002) * ''The Price of Ignorance'' (2000)

References

External links

* Burkinabé film directors 1976 births Living people Burkinabé women film directors 21st-century Burkinabé people {{BurkinaFaso-bio-stub