Léandre-Alain Baker is an actor and film director from the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

Career

Baker was born in

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 ...

in the Central African Republic. He is a national of the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

and now lives in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He is an author, actor and stage director. Working with the writer Emmanuel Dongala he animated the ''Théâtre de l’Éclair'' in

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

. He has directed short and feature-length films, and two documentary films on writers Sony Lab'ou Tansi and Tchicaya U’Tamsi. As an actor, he has played in several films and TV movies.

Work

Baker is the author of several novels and plays. In 1993, he began to make short films. He released his first feature film, the documentary ''Diogène à Brazzaville'', a portrait of the Congolese writer Sony Labou Tansi. Three years later he followed this with a portrait of the writer Tchicaya U Tam'si. His short film ''Les Oranges de Belleville'' about a blind man was one of fifteen films from fifteen different directors combined into the movie ''Paris, la métisse de 2005''. In 2006 his play ''Les jours se traînent, les nuits aussi'' (The days drag on, the nights too) was broadcast on Czech radio. Talking of the play, he said "it is not protest or activist, but more psychological. These are stories of women and men, their sufferings, their difficulties ahead in life". His first feature-length fiction film was '' Ramata'' (2007), a drama with the model

Katoucha Niane Katoucha Niane (23 October 1960 – 2 February 2008) was a Guinean model, activist and author. Nicknamed "The Peul Princess" (in reference to her ethnic Fula background), she worked, and later wrote, under the single name "Katoucha". She was k ...

in the title role. It tells of a Senegalese woman who, aged 50, discovers the pleasures of the flesh in the arms of a little thug 25 years younger. ''Ramata'' was released in France in 2011. The film was adapted from a novel by

Abasse Ndione Abasse Ndione (born 16 December 1946) is a Senegalese author and nurse. Life Ndione was born 16 December 1946 in the village of Bargny, close to Dakar, the son of a shopkeeper. He attended the local Koranic school at first; then, with pressure ...

. Baker said he hesitated at first over choosing Katoucha as the lead due to her reputation and the fact that she was not an actress, but eventually accepted that she was right for the role. He said of the film "Essentially, it is the story of the metamorphosis of a woman, her relationship with the world, and the universe around her".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Leandre-Alain 1960 births People from Bangui Living people Central African Republic film directors Central African Republic writers 21st-century dramatists and playwrights Central African Republic actors Central African Republic expatriates in France