Jean-Pierre Bekolo

Jean-Pierre Bekolo Obama, is a Cameroonian Film Director.He was born June 8,1966. His debut film Quartier Mozart received the Prix Afrique en Creation at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. His second film Aristotle’s Plot, was commissioned by the British Film Institute to celebrate the 100th anniversary of cinema which included works by Martin Scorsese, Jean-Luc Godard, Bertolucci, George Miller. Bekolo’s new book Africa for the Future was recently published by Editions Dagan, Paris, 2009. Bekolo recently released Les Saignantes premiered at the Toronto film festival which won the Silver Stallion and the Best Actress Award at Fespaco 2007 in Ouagadougou. Bekolo’s video installation An African Woman in Space was an exhibit at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris in 2008. Bekolo studied film semiotics in Paris with Christian Metz. Bekolo has taught at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Duke University. While at The Clinton School of Public Service he has develop a media teaching method called Auteur Learning used at Philander Smith College in Arkansas. Bekolo is the Secretary General of the Guild of African Filmmakers and founding member of World Cinema Alliance. —African Success