Roger Gnoan M'Bala (born 1943) is an Ivorian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

. Born in

Grand-Bassam Grand-Bassam () is a town in southeastern Ivory Coast, lying east of Abidjan. It is a sub-prefecture of and the seat of Grand-Bassam Department; it is also a commune. During the late 19th century, Grand-Bassam was briefly the French colonial c ...

, Ivory Coast, he studied history in Paris and film at the

Conservatoire libre du cinéma français A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

(CLCF) and later on in Sweden. From 1968 to 1978, he worked for the Radiodiffusion Télévision ivoirienne (RTI).Africine
/ref> before creating the 1970 black and white documentary on the traditional dance ''Koundoum''. In 1972 he won the Silver Tanit at the Carthage Film Festival with the short ''Amanie'' and several other awards including a FIFEF. Thereafter he produced independently a short, ''Valisy'' and a medium-length satirical film, ''Le Chapeau''. In 1984 he directed his first feature film, ''Ablakon''. He became known thanks to his film ''Au nom du Christ'', winning in 1993 a premio giovani at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...

and an Étalon de Yennenga at the

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 ...

Early life

Born in 1943 in

Grand Bassam Grand-Bassam () is a town in southeastern Ivory Coast, lying east of Abidjan. It is a sub-prefecture of and the seat of Grand-Bassam Department; it is also a commune. During the late 19th century, Grand-Bassam was briefly the French colonial c ...

the first capital of

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Filmography

Shorts

*'' Koundoum'' (1970) *'' La Biche'' (1971) *'' Amanie'' (1972) *'' Gboundo'' (1974) *'' Le Chapeau'' (1975)

Feature film

*'' Ablakon'' (1984) *'' Bouka'' (1988) *'' Au nom du Christ'' (1993) *''

Adanggaman ''Adanggaman'' is a 2000 historical drama film directed by Roger Gnoan M'Bala. It was an international co-production between the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Switzerland, Italy and France. Plot At Adanggaman's court, Ossei makes friends with a ...

'' (2000) *''Le Peuple Niambwa'' (2009) *''Le Dipri'' (2009)

References

External links

* Ivorian film directors 1943 births Living people People from Grand-Bassam {{Africa-film-director-stub