Held every year during the month of February since 1951, the Berlinale is one of the biggest competitive film festivals in the world. The 2022 edition will see the participation of 3 African projects.
Berlinale is a major event for cinema professionals, but also for the general public. Every year, nearly 20,000 professionals from 120 countries, including 4,200 journalists, flock to Berlin to attend this event. Its prestigious award, the Golden Bear, with the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Lion at the Monstra in Venice, are among the most coveted awards in international cinema. The festival, which in 2020 brought together no less than 488,000 spectators, holds a major film market every year.
This year, from February 10 to 20, 2022, three African projects are found in the middle of the 10 sections that make up this festival. In the Co-production Market section, we find the Mehal Sefari project directed by Ethiopian Abraham Gezahagne. Produced by Abricom Multimédia in co-production with the Canadian firm Gobez Media. At the level of the Talent Projects Market, we find the film Sadrack by Cameroonian Narcisse Wandji produced by Evodie N. Ngueyeli and his company Les Films d’Ebène. Finally, in the Meetings section, we find the Fêtes des pères project by Rwandan Kivu Ruhorahoza.
As for Abraham Gezahegne, his first film, Lomi Shita, based on an adaptation of the book Adam Reta, won no less than 10 awards locally and internationally, notably at the Ethiopian Film Festival and the East African Film Festival. Regarding Kivu Ruhorahoza, his career as a director was launched in 2011 with Gray Matter, a film about trauma and madness in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The film, produced in Rwanda despite a precarious budget, was a great success and was screened at prestigious international film festivals such as those in Tribeca, Melbourne, Warsaw, Rotterdam, Dubai, Durban, Gothenburg and the Rio.
Fred Mekono-Ottou (Interns)
Discussion about this post