From 2010 to 2019, several films were produced in Cameroon. In this multitude of films all more or less successful, we were marked by 8 films which, in our opinion, have marked their time and have to a certain extent revealed of the enormous talent of a new generation of Cameroonian filmmakers.
Cameroonian cinema has experienced several major periods since its launch in 1962 with the film Adventure in France by Jean Paul Ngassa. Each period has known its great names, its great figures and its unforgettable films. The 70s and 80s were certainly the most productive with films such as Pousse Pousse by Daniel Kamwa, Muna Moto by Jean Pierre Dikongue Pipa who won Yennenga’s stallion at Fespaco in 1976, Les Coopérants by Arthur Si Bita, Anna Makossa d’Alphonse Béni and many others. Productivity due to the access to financing and the presence of numerous cinemas in the country. The 1990s and 2000s saw a rather disparate production, each film produced at that time being a breath of fresh air for a cinema in the midst of a crisis (gradual closure of cinemas, disappearance of funding). This period was marked by films such as Sango Malo by Bassek Ba Kobhio, Quartier Mozart and Les Saignantes by Jean Pierre Bekolo, Paris at any cost by Joséphine Ndagnou, Confidences by Cyrille Masso.
At the end of the 2000s with the progess of digital technology, more and more films are being produced by a new generation of filmmakers with the desire to bring a new perspective on society. A new cinematography is thus emerging in both the English-speaking and French-speaking areas, for it should be remembered that cinema in Cameroon is divided into two large blocks with distinct operations: English-speaking cinema and French-speaking cinema. Each of these two cinemas operating in parallel, each with its own funding and distribution logic. With this new wave, films are more accessible thanks to the sale of DVDs, there are more and more film premieres in hotels and other cultural centers. From 2010 to 2019, many films were produced and broadcast in Cameroon. When writing your magazine we have chosen 8 films which, for us, marked this period of rebirth of Cameroonian cinema and which for many have influenced the new Cameroonian cinema which is taking shape since 2019.
1 of 8
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1. Not My Will
2. Ninah's Dowry
3. Le Blanc d'Eyenga
4. Le Président
5. W.A.K.A
6. Life Point
7. Minga et La Cuillère Cassée
8. Innocente
Not My Will (2010) – directed by Wegmuller Efokoa
Released in September 2010 at the Chariot Hotel in Buea, Not My Will is an urban chronicle of the student youth in this city in south-western Cameroon directed by Wegmuller Efokoa. It is a film that tries by its narration to be classified both in the register of the film of ganster and the musical comedy. A complex exercise not necessarily successful but which will mark its time by this audacity to propose something different. It is a major film for this time because it will rise actresses such as Christa Eka who will be found a few years later in films like Beleh (2013), Damaru (2014), Alma (2015) which she also directs. In the film we also find a rising artist from this period: Achalle, author of a few hits who will die in 2016. The film, because of its urban theme, opens the door to a new English-speaking cinematography in Cameroon which is no longer based on the Nollywood model of that time. The film is the precursor of films such as Obession (2011) by Achille Brice, Breach of trust (2017) by Nkanya Nkwai. Not My Will remains to this day the one and only film by Wegmulleur Efokoa.
Ninah’s Dowry(2012) – directed by Victor Viyuoh
It is the most awarded film in the history of Cameroonian cinema with no less than 30 awards, including 12 international awards. Ninah’s Dowry, so far unique work by director Victor Viyuoh, can be considered a classic of Cameroonian cinema. The film is a brutal plunge into the daily life of a young woman who is constantly beaten by her husband and who is looking for ways and means to get out of this hell. A classic scenario that does not necessarily do much good in the image of the continent but which does represent a horrible reality that many women still live in Africa. This is perhaps the reason why this work has been acclaimed internationally. Ninah’s Dowry is also a film that remains rooted in the African tradition of the film which takes place in the village far from the cosmopolitanism of the big cities. Obviously this bias serves the story enormously by helping it to have all its credibility. The film has especially allowed to reveal an actor: Anurin Nwunembom. His remarkable performance in the film has helped position him as an important figure in Cameroonian cinema.
Le Blanc d’Eyenga(2012) – directed by Thierry Ntamack
Almost everyone in Cameroon has heard of the film Le Blanc d’Eyenga directed by Thierry Ntamack. It is one of the most popular films of Cameroonian cinematography because of its history well anchored in the daily life of the country of Dikongue Pipa. Marrying a white man has consistently been seen by many African women as a token of happiness and the sure promise of being out of poverty. The arrival of the internet and cyber cafes gave many young girls the means to lure old white people who would come and get them out of poverty. But are all whites necessarily rich? At least that is the question facing Eyenga the main character of the film played by Jeanne Mbenti. Le Blanc d’Eyenga is a joyful chronicle of a contemporary society where everyone tries to do what is in their power to get by. Beyond the story, the film owes its notoriety to the dynamism of its director (himself an actor) who a few years before created the concept of “cinema at the price of beer”. With this concept he recruits many young girls who roam bars and shops to sell films. The concept continued and the director made other films that never reached the level of popularity of this first feature film.
The President(2013) – directed by Jean Pierre Bekolo
The President is a cinematographic “UFO” a bit like all the works of Jean Pierre Bekolo. The subtitle of the film which appears on the film poster already sets the tone for this work which aims to be subversive: How do we know that it is time to leave? A great philosophical question but very real in many African countries where presidents are very attached to their chairs. The film written by Simon Njami mixes fiction and documentary. Jean Pierre Bekolo takes us to Cameroon where, one fine morning, the president embodied by Gérard Essomba, disappeared. He left on the sly to discover the hinterland from which he has been cut off since he has governed. The film will obviously be censored upon its release in Cameroon, but that will only increase public interest in the film. The President is certainly the director’s most controversial film, but not the most successful. The only constancy here, this faculty for the director to break the codes of conventional narration. Revealed by the film Quartier Mozart (1992), now a cult film and a Cameroonian classic, Jean Pierre Bekolo has always taken pleasure in deconstructing the narrative logic of conventional cinema. An approach that has produced memorable films such as Les Saignantes (2005), Naked Reality (2016) and Le Complot d’Aristote (1996).
W.A.K.A (2014) – directed by Françoise Ellong
W.A.K.A is the first feature film by director Françoise Ellong, a dramatic work that takes us into the hard daily life of Mathilde, played by Patricia Bakalak, a young single mother, who has to prostitute herself to provide for her son. In this dark universe Mathilde is confronted with the violence of her pimp, a violent and unscrupulous man played by Bruno Henri. The Benino-Cameroonian director has always opted for sensitive subjects. In this film, as in several of Françoise Ellong’s films, the heroine finds herself trapped in a physical and psychological way in a universe where the outcome is not always easy to find. The film, very neat from a technical point of view, will be selected in several festivals around the world and will open the voice to a different narrative approach in French-speaking films in the country. Because with W.A.K.A it is a question of going beyond the simple presentation of the facts to understand the reasons which underlie each fact and what are the consequences. The film will be selected in several festivals around the world, including the Hollywood Film Festival.
Life Point (2017) – directed by Achille Brice
Best Cameroonian film during the Ecrans Noirs 2017 festival, Life Point directed by Achille Brice is a film that borders on auteur film and mainstream film. For this second feature film, we find a theme dear to the director, obsession, as it was already in his first feature film Obsession (2011). But Life Point is above all the impossible love story between an old university professor played by Gérard Essomba and a young dancer played by Tatiana Ngong. While it is regular to encounter this kind of love affair in real life between people with such a large age gap, it is not always easy to bring such a subject on the screen. Yet this is what Achille Brice does by trying to bring a poetic touch, but also psychological and even mystical. The old teacher who falls in love with the dancers has not forgotten without a determined wife. Often in the solitude of her bed, she appears and they chat together. Looking at the film, the intention is clear, the director has decided to offer an auteur film and a mainstream film at the same time, the essay is not a total success because the story does not go so far than one would have hoped. However, the feat of this film beyond its selections in international festivals like Fespaco, is to have opened the voice to a new narrative approach more cinematographic in English-speaking Cameroonian films. A few years later, films like Saving Mbango (2019) directed by Nkanya Nkwai or Fisherman’s Diary (2020) by Enah Johnscott will confirm this fundamental work.
Minga and the Broken Spoon (2017) – directed by Claye Edou
Minga et la Cuillère Cassée was released in November 2017 during a memorable premiere at Canal Olympia Bessengue in Douala. Directed by Claye Edou, the film, which took 3 years to produce, is considered the first Cameroonian animated film. This film is a reference in Cameroon in the genre already because it is the only one, but above all because it draws on local Cameroonian cultures to give originality to its story. A free adaptation of the tale The Broken Spoon, which appeared in the collection Les Contes du Cameroun by Charles Binam Bikoï and Emmanuel Soundjock in 1977, the film was shown for 13 weeks in the African network of Canal Olympia cinemas. A record for a Cameroonian film, which reflects the adhesion that this film meets with young audiences but also adults. The film, which uses a very simple animation technique, takes us on the adventures of Minga chased out of the house by her stepmother for having broken a spoon. An adventure full of life lessons, funny and moving situations. The film still retains its appeal for several years after its release, with each new screening always filling the house. The music from the film, one of which is performed by the singer Dynasty the Tiger, is used as a waiting ringtone by some mobile phone operators in Cameroon and the film’s gadgets meet with quite a bit of success with the public. The film was selected at several festivals and won the 2019 award for best international feature at the Kingstoon Festival in Jamaica.
Innocent(e) (2019) – directed by Thierry Lea Malle
It was the film that closed the 2019 film year in Cameroon with its releases in Yaoundé and Douala. Innocent(e) by Frank Thierry Lea Malle plunges us into an investigation of a double attempted homicide which must be elucidated by agent Mbuntcha played by Virginie Ehana. A film that questions the relationship between law, justice and truth. The film stands out above all because it explores genres not very common in Cameroon: investigative film and judicial film. And the spectator is kept in halo during the 1 hour 40 minutes that the film lasts by a well-kept narration and multiple reversals of situations. The film co-produced by Canal + made it possible to discover actors like Virginie Ehana, Fidèle Bayidedeg, Ferdinand Tiognou and to rediscover actors like Tatiana Matip, Axel Abessolo and Daniel Leuthe. The Covid19 pandemic unfortunately prevented an international release of the film, but it benefited from a primetime broadcast on Canal + on May 20, 2020, Cameroon’s national day. A great feat for a film shot by an entirely young team.
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