Gaston Kaboré (born 1951) is a
Burkinabé film director and an important figure in Burkina Faso's film industry.
He has won awards for his films ''
Wend Kuuni'' and ''
Buud Yam''. He is the founder of Imagine Institute, a school he opened in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 2003, that provides workshops and residencies for film and television professionals.
Biography
Kaboré was born in 1951 in
Bobo-Dioulasso
Bobo-Dioulasso ( , ) is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of 1,129,000 (); it is the second-largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The name means "home of the Bobo- Dioula".
The local Bobo-speaking pop ...
in
Upper Volta.
He studied history at the
Sorbonne in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, receiving his
license
A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...
and
Maîtrise (Master's) degrees.
While researching the history of racial prejudice against Africa by its colonisers for his Maîtrise, Kaboré was drawn to contemporary
documentary film
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
s which, he felt, continued to propagate such stereotypes.
To better understand the "language of cinema", he decided to go to
ESEC film school. Originally intending to use film as a medium for disseminating historical knowledge, he gradually grew passionate about film for its own sake. He received his degree in Film Production in 1976.
He returned to his native country to be director of the Centre National du Cinéma. His film ''Wend Kuuni'' was only the second feature film produced in Burkina Faso.
His work for the screen, focusing on his country's rural heritage, has received numerous international awards, including a French
César award Cesar or César may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* César (film), ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama
* César (film), ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt
Places
* Cesar, Portugal
* Cesar Department, Colombia
* Cesar R ...
.
In 1997 he won the first prize at the 15th
Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) with the film ''
Buud Yam''.
From 1985 to 1997 he was the Secretary-General of the
Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI).
[
] In 2003 he opened Imagine Institute, a school in
Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...
that provides training for television and film professionals.
Kabore created the school to address the lack of African training schools
and in the belief that “cinema is able to play a fundamental role of the restoration of
fricanself-confidence, self-esteem.”
Filmography
*''
Wend Kuuni'' (1983)
*''
Zan Boko'' (1988)
*''
Rabi Rabi may refer to:
Places
* Rabí, a municipality and village in the Czech Republic
** Rabí Castle, a castle
* Räbi, a village in Estonia
* Rabi, Iran, a city in Karun County, Khuzestan province, Iran
* Rabi, Panchthar, a village development c ...
'' (1992)
*''
Lumière and Company'' (1995)
*''
Buud Yam'' (1997)
Notes
Further reading
Books
*
Ukadike, Nwachukwu Frank (2002)
Gaston Kaboré ''Questioning African Cinema: Conversations with Filmmakers''. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 109–120. .
External links
*
1951 births
Burkinabe film directors
Burkinabe screenwriters
Male screenwriters
Burkinabe film producers
Living people
People from Bobo-Dioulasso
21st-century Burkinabe people
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