Paulin Soumanou Vieyra

Directing

31 Jan 1925

† 04 Nov 1987

Porto-Novo, Benin

Biography

Benin-born, Senegal-raised filmmaker, theorist, and historian Paulin Soumanou Vieyra was a key figure, as both practitioner and thinker, in the creation and articulation of what a post-colonial African cinema would and could be. Along with producing essential texts like “Film and the Problem of Languages in Africa“ and “Remarks on African Cinema,” founding the important Fédération Panafricaine des Cinéastes, and mentoring the likes of Ousmane Sembène, Djibril Diop Mambéty, and Ababacar Samb-Makh...