Cameroon, Gabon and France / 1994 / 90mins / Biopic, Drama / French

This film is an African's view of a man who made his mark on world history, particularly on African history: "African's perceive whites as being theatrical, complacent, affected, ruled by time in their everyday lives and by death in the future! I wanted to produce a fragmented film, because time initially rules by constraint, by rape, then as Africa progressively gains the upper hand, Africa progressively feigns the upper hand, African life takes over," says Bassek Ba Kobhio. Young Koumba grows up listening to Dr. Albert Schweitzer's organ music, and is inspired to become a doctor like the "great white."

Bassek ba Kobhio

Bassek Ba Kobhio was born in 1957 in Nindje, Cameroon. Originally he wanted to become an author, and in 1976 he won a prize for a short story he had written. He earned degrees in both sociology and philosophy. While he was pursuing his studies, he started to work as an assistant film director and literary critic for the film department of the Ministry of Information and Culture. He was also the assistant to Claire Denis on Chocolat (1987). He made his first documentary, FESTAC 88, in 1988 and his first feature film, Sango Malo, in 1991. The same year, he founded Films Terre Africaine, a Cameroon-based production company. In 1995 he launched Ecrans Noirs (Black Screens), an itinerant film festival that circulates in Cameroon, Gabon, and the Central African Republic. He is also the author of several novels. In 2003 he collaborated with Didier Ouénangaré on The Silence of the Forest, an adaptation of a novel by Étienne Goyémidé. Learn More