# Joseph Gaï Ramaka

Joseph Gaï Ramaka (Jo(e) Gaï Ramaka/Joseph Gaye Ramaka, born 9 November 1952 in Saint Louis, Senegal) is a Senegalese film director, screen writer and film producer.

## Biography

Gaï Ramaka studied visual anthropology at the Paris School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences and film studies at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (Institute for Advanced Cinematographic Studies, IDHEC). In 1990 he founded the French production and distribution company Les Ateliers de l’Arche. In 1999, the company established its Espace Bell’Arte branch in Dakar, Senegal, a screening facility with Dolby Stereo. The company's presence expanded with Arche Studios, a 15,000 square meter studio, and the first in West and Central Africa to have computerized lighting.
His feature-length films include Nitt... N'Doxx /Les Faiseurs de pluie, an adaptation of a story by Prosper Merimée, Karmen Geï (2000), an African version of the opera Carmen, and Et si Latif avait raison (And what if Latif were right!, 2006), a political documentary.
In 2007 he founded the New Orleans Afrikan Film and Arts Festival Project (NOAFEST) and in 2013, he created Gorée Island Cinema, a platform for collaborative cinematography, which has hosted the Gorée Cinema Festival since 2015.
Gaï Ramaka currently lives in New Orleans.

## Filmography

Gaï Ramaka's films include:
| Year | Film | Genre | Role | Duration |
| 1985 | Baaw-Naan / Rites de pluie | Short, documentary | Screen writer, director | 25 min (m) |
| 1986 | La Musique lyrique Peul | Short, documentary | Director | 10 m |
| 1986 | Portrait d’un mannequin | Short, documentary | Director | 10 m |
| 1988 | Niiwam by Clarence Thomas Delgado | Feature | Producer | 88 m |
| 1989 | Nitt... N'Doxx / Les Faiseurs de pluie | Documentary | Screen writer, director | 85 m |
| 1991 | Boxulmaleen !! (L'An fer) by William Ousmane Mbaye and Amet Diallo | Feature | Producer | 30 m |
| 1996 | Idylle by Dominique Camara | Short, drama | Coproducer | 14 m |
| 1997 | Ainsi soit-il ! (So Be It), episode of Africa Dreaming | Fiction | Screen writer, codirector, coproducer | 33 m |
| 1997 | Baby Sister | Fiction pilot | Director | 12 m |
| 1998 | Demain je brûle / Ghoudwa Nahrek by Mohamed Ben Smaïl | Drama | Producer | 95 m |
| 2001 | Karmen Geï | Fiction, music | Screen writer, director | 85 or 90 m |
| 2006 | Et si Latif avait raison ! (And what if Latif were right!) | Documentary | Screen writer, director, producer | 95 m |
| 2007 | Jaxaay Plan! | Documentary | Screen writer, director | 26 m |
| 2009 | It's my man ! | Documentary | Director | 65 m |
| 2020 | Mbas mi (The plague by Albert Camus) | Short, drama | Director, producer | 8 m |

## Awards

Gaï Ramaka won various awards, such as:
* Baaw-Naan/Rites de pluie (1985) - Masque d'Or for documentary at the Deuxième Festival International du Film sur le Carnaval et la Fête à Nice. Special mention by the jury at the Quatrième Festival International Jean Rouch/Bilan du Film Ethnographique in Paris. First Prize for shorts of the Second Festival of Perugia, Italy.
* Ainsi-soit-il (1997) - Silver Lion Award, First Prize Corto-cortissimo, 54th Venice Film Festival 1997. Best Film Prize, Festival Vues d'Afrique Montreal 1998.
* Karmen Geï (2001) - Best Feature Award of the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF Los Angeles) 2006.

## Literature

* Adesokan, Akin (2019). "6. 'The Invisible Government of the Powerful'. Joseph Gaï Ramaka's Cinema of Power". In Harrow, Kenneth W.; Garritano, Carmela (eds.). A companion to African cinema. Wiley-Blackwell companions to national cinemas. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 136–154. ISBN 9781119100317.