Roger Gnoan M'Bala (1943 – 10 July 2023) was an Ivorian film director.

Life and career

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 ...

, Ivory Coast in 1943, 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 Carthage Film Festival (Journées cinématographiques de Carthage, or JCC) is an annual film festival that takes place in Tunis, founded in 1966. It is also known by its Arabic title, ("Cinema Days of Carthage"). Initially biennial alternating ...

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 International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

and an Étalon de Yennenga at the

FESPACO The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (, or FESPACO) is a film festival in Burkina Faso, held biennially in Ouagadougou, where the organization is based. It accepts for competition only films by African filmmakers and chief ...

. M'Bala died on 10 July 2023, at the age of 80.

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

References

External links

* 1943 births 2023 deaths Ivorian film directors People from Grand-Bassam {{Africa-film-director-stub