# Cinema of the Central African Republic

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] The Central African Republic is one of the world's poorest countries and the film industry is correspondingly small. The first film made in CAR appears to have been Les enfants de la danse, a short French-made ethnographic documentary of 1945. Joseph Akouissone was the first Central African to make a film in the country, with his 1981 documentary Un homme est un homme; he was followed by the documentaries made in the 1980s by Léonie Yangba Zowe. Since then a series of ongoing conflicts and economic crises have severely limited the potential growth of film-making in the country. The first feature-length drama made in the country was Le silence de la forêt, a 2003 CAR-Gabon-Cameroon co-production about the Biaka people.
More recently, director and producer Elvis Sabin Ngaibino has feature documentaries Makongo and Le Fardeau (The Burden) screened at international film festivals.

## List of Central African films

This is a sortable list of films produced in the CAR.
| Year | Title | Director | Genre | Notes |
| 1958 | The Roots of Heaven (film) | John Huston | Documentary short | American |
| 1960 | boganda films | boganda | Documentary short | English |
| 1970 | Les enfants de la danse | Geneviève Dournon & Arom Simha | Documentary short | English title: Children of the Dance |
| 1978 | Safrana or Freedom of Speech | Joseph Akouissone, Med Hondo | Documentary short | |
| 1981 | Un homme est un homme | Joseph Akouissone | Documentary short | English title: A Man is a Man |
| 1985 | Lengue | Léonie Yangba Zowe | Documentary short | |
| 1985 | Nzale | Léonie Yangba Zowe | Documentary short | |
| 1985 | Yangba bolo | Léonie Yangba Zowe | Documentary short | |
| 1987 | Paroles de sages | Léonie Yangba Zowe | Documentary short | English title: Words of Sages |
| 1990 | Echoes from a Sombre Empire | Werner Herzog | Documentary | English title: Echoes From a Sombre Empire |
| 1992 | Bogande | Bogande | | |
| 1993 | Un Pygmée dans la baignoire | Léandre-Alain Baker | | Broadcast: Canal Plus, TV5, CFI Festival: Montreal, Fespaco, Amiens... |
| 1993 | documentary Diogène à | Léandre-Alain Baker | Drama | |
| 1995 | Tatie pouvait vivre. Video, color, | Opportune Aymadji | Drama | |
| 1996 | Colis postal (1996) | Léandre-Alain Baker | Documentary short | |
| 1998 | Au bout du couloir | Léandre-Alain Baker | Documentary short | Festivals: Montreal, Amiens. |
| 2003 | Le silence de la forêt | Bassek Ba Kobhio & Didier Ouénangaré | Drama | English title: The Silence of the Forest |
| 2004 | Les Oranges de Belleville | Léandre-Alain Baker | Documentary short | |
| 2005 | Paris la métisse | Léandre-Alain Baker | Documentary short | |
| 2006 | Tchicaya U’Tamsi | Léandre-Alain Baker | Drama | |
| 2007 | Ramata (film) | Léandre-Alain Baker | Documentary short | |
| 2008 | 35 Shots of Rum | Claire Denis | Documentary short | |
| 2009 | World of Witchcraft | Daniel Bogado | Documentary short | |
| 2009 | Saignantes (Les) | Jean-Pierre Bekolo | Documentary short | |
| 2009 | Sofie la Banguisoise (Series) 2009 | Sylviane Gboulou Mbapondo | Documentary short | |
| 2010 | A Screaming Man | Mahamat Saleh Haroun | Documentary short | |
| 2010 | White Material | Claire Denis Marie NDiaye | Documentary short | |
| 2011 | Oka! | Lavinia Currier | Drama | American drama filmed partly in CAR |
| 2011 | The Ambassador (2011 film) | Mads Brügger | Documentary short | American |
| 2011 | Love and Bruises | Lou Ye | Documentary short | |
| 2012 | magleorie kolisso | magleorie kolisso | Documentary short | |
| 2012 | Georgette Florence Koyt | Georgette Florence Koyt-Deballé Tchicaya U’Tamsi | Documentary short | |
| 2013 | Aya of Yop City | Marguerite Abouet Clément Oubrerie | Documentary short | |
| 2014 | chimende Loseba | freed yapandee | Documentary short | |
| 2015 | freed yapandee | freed yapandee | Documentary short | |
| 2016 | Nascent | Lindsay Branham & Jon Kasbe | Documentary short | |
| 2017 | Sarafina | Sarafina | Documentary short | |
| 2017 | Ozagin | Dany Grepande | Drama | |
| 2017 | Chambre 1 | Leila Thiam | Documentary short | |
| 2018 | Elephant Path: Njaia Njoku | Todd McGrain | Documentary | |
| 2018 | Yé mbi | Yémbi, Par Hermann LINGANGUE | Documentary short | |
| 2019 | demain je pare en | Yann harris Dawro | Drama | |
| 2019 | Camille | Boris Lojkine | Documentary short | |

## Films made

La Couture de Paris,
short film, 1995. Distribution: CFI, Canal + Horizon, TV5, Festivals: Fespaco, Amiens, Montréal, Namur.
Diogenes to Brazzaville,
Documentary film, 2004. Portrait of the Congolese writer Sony Labou Tansi. Broadcast: TV 10, CFI, Canal + Horizon, TV5, Festivals: Vue d'Afrique Montreal, Amiens, Fespaco, Namur, Milan, Lisbon.
Tchicaya, the little leaf that sings its country,
Documentary film, 2004. Portrait of the Congolese writer Tchicaya U'Tamsi. Diffusion: Images Plus, CFI, Canal + Horizon, Festivals: Fespaco, Amiens.

## Central African Republic film directors

*Didier Ouénangaré
*Léandre-Alain Baker
* Elvis Sabin Ngaibino
* Léonie Yangba Zowe
* Mamadou Mahmoud N'Dongo
* Joseph Akouissone
* Maurice Alezra
* Béatrice Boffety
* Patrick Demeester
* Georges Durupt
* Micheline Durupt
* Bernard Guenau
* Gérard Guérin
* Evane Hanska
* Charles Lescaut
* Charles Leaut
* Chantal Monstile
* Denis Parrichon
* Moussa Ndongo
* Sylviane Gboulou Mbapondo
* Leila Thiam
* Monsieur Habib
* Fiacre Bindala
* Camille Lepage
* Andre kolingbe
* Bocha Sango
* Mokonga Quenitin
* Alex Ballu
* Heritter Acteur
* Djimon Hounsou
* Mbéni Yé by Sparrow
* Étienne Goyémidé
* droite Eric Sabe,
* Ida Mabaya,
* lesultan de dekoa
* Hippolyte Donossio
* Ousna Ousnabee
* NGAISSIO Abdoul Karim
* ASSANAS TEKATA Simon Patrick
* LAMINE Odilon Alias Cheguevara
* Andy melo
* kailou Sylla
* Nicna Meunrisse
* Boris Lojkine
* Didier Flort Ouén
* Leger Serge kokpakpa
* Jm wolf Gang
* lzy Orphelin
* Brown Goh
* Eric Yelemou
* Lassa Kossangue
* Bande Originale
* Hurel BenInga