Elvire Adjamonsi (born February 18, 1971) is a

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 ...

ese filmmaker, actor, journalist and cultural developer. She is known for her documentary films and for her work in creating and managing

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

s and cultural institutions across Africa.

Biography

Adjamonsi was born in

, and completed her BA in Visual communication at the Pan African Institute for Development (IPD) in

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 ...

. She made her first documentary film shortly after finishing her studies. ''De l'eau toute l'année'' (Water All Year) is a 26-minute film about the mini-dams in Burkina Faso. Her script, "BIDOSSESSI", won second place in the APROMEDIA competition, held in collaboration with Alliance Française de Bangui. The script was selected in 2004 to participate in the Sud Ecriture development workshop in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, which is supported by the

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...

, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, and the Hubert Balls Foundation. In 2010 she wrote her first short, ''La Maudite'' (The Accursed), which was screened at the first Francophone Film Festival in

Atakpamé Atakpamé is the fifth largest city in Togo by population (84,979 inhabitants in 2006), located in the Plateaux Region of Togo. It is an industrial centre and lies on the main north-south highway, 161 km north of the capital Lomé. It is ...

(

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

), and then another short, ''Cica la petite Sorcière'' (Cica the LIttle Witch). She then created another documentary film, ''TOLEGBA'', about the Beninise god of the same name, who is considered to be a demon, and yet protects the people. Adjamonsi participated in several television series as an actor, the best-known of which are "Un tour de vis" and "Baobab", which were broadcast across Africa. She also worked as an assistant director on Channel 2 (La Chaîne 2) in Benin. In addition to her film work, Adjamonsi began working as a journalist and graphic designer. She has worked for various publications, including the French magazine of African culture, Afiavi Magazine, and several Beninese newspaper, including ''Le Progrès'', ''l'Aurore'', ''Fraternité'', and ''Le Béninois''. Adjamonsi is best-known for her work in cultural development, particularly in French-speaking countries with little to no government support for culture. She has founded and managed film, theater and music festivals, including: LAGUNIMAGE (Benin, 2000), Les Journées Théâtrales en Campagne ( Pointe-Noire, 2003–2004); Le Ngombi (

Bangui Bangui () (or Bangî in Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi ...

, 2001); FITHEB (Benin, 2006); NSANGU NDJINDJI ( Pointe-Noire, 2008); FITHA ( Ivory Coast), RCG ( Kinshasa); Wedbinde à Kaya (

); JOUTHEC ( Pointe-Noire, Congo-Brazza) and @fricourt. In 2016, she organized a puppet theater festival and a street art festival. In addition, Adjamonsi works with orchestras, theater companies, cultural institutions, production companies, and broadcast authorities. Her goal is to make Africa into a world hub of arts and culture.

References

External links

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Sessi
a short film by Elvire Adjamonsi {{DEFAULTSORT:Adjamonsi, Elvire 1971 births 21st-century actresses Beninese film directors Beninese film actresses Beninese women film directors Living people