Bissau-Guinean film director
Flora Gomes
|
---|
Born
| 31 December 1949
Cadique, Guinea-Bissau
|
---|
Nationality
| Bissau-Guinean
|
---|
Alma mater
| Instituto Cubano del Arte y la Industria Cinematograficos
|
---|
Occupation
| film director
|
---|
Notable work
| Mortu Nega
|
---|
Flora Gomes
is a
Bissau-Guinean
film director
. He was born in
Cadique
,
Guinea-Bissau
on 31 December 1949
[1]
and after high school in
Cuba
, he decided to study film at the
Instituto Cubano del Arte y la Industria Cinematograficos
in
Havana
.
Shot fourteen years after
independence
, Gomes's
Mortu Nega
(
Death Denied
) (1988)
[2]
was the first fiction film and the second feature film ever made in Guinea-Bissau. (The first feature film was
N’tturudu
, by director
Umban u’Kest
in 1987.) At
FESPACO
1989, the film won the prestigious Oumarou Ganda Prize.
Mortu Nega
is in Creole with
English
subtitles.
In 1992, Gomes directed
Udju Azul di Yonta
,
[3]
which was screened in the
Un Certain Regard
section at the
1992 Cannes Film Festival
.
[4]
Biography
[
edit
]
Son of
illiterate
parents, as a child Gomes struggled against the limitations of his social status and the oppression of the
Portuguese
colonial system under
Antonio Salazar
's rule. He supported Bissau-Guinean resistance against colonialism and greatly admired
Amilcar Cabral
. He left Guinea-Bissau to study cinema in
Cuba
(1972) at the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematography, under the guidance of
Santiago Alvarez
. He continued his studies in
Senegal
, at the Senegalese Journal for Motion Picture News, under the direction of
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra
. He also co-directed two films with Sergio Pina and worked as an assistant with
Chris Marker
and Anita Fernandez.
Upon returning to liberated
Guinea-Bissau
, Gomes filmed his country's independence ceremony (24 September 1974), fulfilling the desire of Amilcar Cabral that it should be Bissau-Guineans themselves capturing this historical moment on film. After freeing itself from colonial rule, Guinea-Bissau was visited by many reporters and progressive filmmakers and Gomes, given his knowledge of cinema, was in great demand to assist them, which allowed him to expand his skills. At the end of the 1970s, he worked as a photographer and cameraman for the Ministry of Information.
Having first directed historical documentaries, Gomes filmed his first feature film,
Mortu Nega
, in 1987.
Mortu Nega
depicts the struggle for independence and the challenges of the first post-independence years in Guinea-Bissau. The film was screened at several international film festivals and Gomes caught the attention of commentators and critics. He was particularly well received in
France
, which in later years enabled him to attract funding for the production of new films. In 2000, he was distinguished in France with the title of
Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
.
Filmography
[
edit
]
Awards and accomplishments
[
edit
]
Source:
[5]
1988
[
edit
]
Mortu Nega
won:
1992
[
edit
]
Udju Azul di Yonta
won:
1994
[
edit
]
- Distinguished with the Order of Merit for Culture by the
Tunisian
Government.
- Named a member of the principal jury at the Carthage Film Festival.
1996
[
edit
]
- Awarded Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
- Po di Sangui
won Silver Tanit award at Carthage Film Festival
2002
[
edit
]
- Nha fala
won the international prize given by the French Bourse for the best film from the South.
- Nha fala
also won the best Latin film award at the unofficial
Venice
Film Festival.
- Nha fala
won the city prize at the
Amiens International Film Festival
(France).
- Flora Gomes was recognized in
Portugal
by the Bissau-Guinean community for his services in making the Bissau-Guinean culture known worldwide.
2003
[
edit
]
- Nha fala
won the Grand Prize at the Vie d’Afrique Festival in
Montreal
.
- Nha fala
won the Grand Prize for a feature film at FESPACO from the
ECOWAS
parallel jury.
2004
[
edit
]
- Flora Gomes was a member of the jury at the Amiens International Film Festival.
2005
[
edit
]
- Was chosen as president of the ECOWAS jury at FESPACO.
- Was recognized by the
University of Lisbon
, receiving a medal celebrating the universality of his work.
- Was a panelist at the second
Brown University
Africana Film Festival.
2006
[
edit
]
- Was a visiting artist/professor at the Department of Africana Studies at Brown University.
References
[
edit
]
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|