The Cinema of Benin refers to the film industry of the
Republic of Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Republic of Dahomey, Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burki ...
in
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
.
History
Sources differ as to the which was the first Beninese film, with some pointing to the short ''Lumière des hommes'' (1954, director unknown),
with others pointing to the work of
Pascal Abikanlou, who made a number of documentaries in the 1960s, followed by his first feature film ''Sous le signe du vaudou'' in 1974.
Richard De Medeiros was another noted director of the early independence years, beginning with 1970's ''Le roi est mort en exil'', an examination of
Béhanzin
Béhanzin ( – 10 December 1906) is considered the eleventh (if Adandozan is not counted) King of Dahomey, modern-day Republic of Benin. Upon taking the throne, he changed his name from Kondo.
Biography
He succeeded his father, Glele, and ...
, the last king of Dahomey.
He went on to make the feature-length ''Le nouveau venu'' (1972), which explored the issue of corruption and the conflict between modernity and tradition in Benin.
François Okioh made a number of short documentaries in the 1980s, as well as the feature-length dramas ''Ironou'' (1985) and ''Enfants de...'' (1985).
Noted filmmakers of the last two decades are
Jean Odoutan (''Barbecue Pejo'', 2000; ''Pim-Pim Tché'', 2010),
Idrissou Mora Kpai (''Si-Gueriki, la reine-mère'', 2002) and
Sylvestre Amoussou (''Africa Paradis'', 2006).
List of Beninese films
This is a sortable list of films produced in Benin.
[Various (2000) ''Les cinémas d'Afrique: Dictionnaire'', Editions Karthala, p. 18]
See also
* Culture of Benin
*List of African films
The following is a list of African films. It is arranged alphabetically by country of origin.
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo, Democratic Republic ...
References
External links
Benin film
at the Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
{{World cinema navbox
Films
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 ...
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 ...