Concerto for an Exile

Birth: April 15, 1938 in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Death: Monday, February 16, 2008 in Abidjan (Ivory Coast).

Having spent his childhood in the Ivory Coast, Desire Ecare travelled to France in 1961. He took acting classes and joined the Center for Dramatic Art. He graduated two years later and achieved a second prize of Dramatic Art and joined the IDHEC. After graduation, Desire Ecare embarked on a directing career while pursuing an acting career in theater (The Tragedy of King Christophe, The Exception and the Rule).

Ecare’s first film was A Concerto In Exile (1968), a short film on the lives of African students in Paris. It was a hit and won the Grand Prize of Young Cinema at Hyères. In his first feature film, A nous deux la France(1969), the filmmaker takes the same approach and a portrait not only of men but of a black woman wanting to compete with the Parisians. With this satirical comedy impression of lightness, Desire Ecare once again proves his talent. Back in Africa, the director had to wait five years to complete his third film, due to lack of technical and financial means. Faces of Women (1985), also written and produced by the filmmaker, is divided into three parts connected by the singing and dancing. A tribute to African women, the film nevertheless caused a scandal in Africa. Acclaimed in France, he won the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes in 1985. —Africulture