Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda

Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda

Biography

The writer and filmmaker Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda was born in 1957 in Kinshasa, when the Democratic Republic of Congo was still called Zaire. After studying history, art history, philosophy and sociology in Brussels, he studied film in France, Great Britain and the USA. His very first documentary film "10,000 Years of Cinema" (1991) was a reflection on the history and state of filmmaking in Africa, and in "Thomas Sankara" he made the first film tribute to the murdered president of Burkina Faso. Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda presented both films in Cologne at the "Out of Europe III" festival in 1993.
His magnificent short film "Le Damier" (1996) is a furious damning of the self-appointed "president for life" and long-term dictator of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Desiré Mobutu (also known as Mobutu Sese Seko), and, being one of FilmInitiativ’s favourites, it has been shown many times in Cologne. FilmInitiativ screened his next two films at the festival a year after their completion; "Watt" (1999) about the three-way relationship between a couple and their radio, and "Article 15 bis" (1999), an entertaining parable concerning the urinating ban on African streets. Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda’s reputation for being among the most politically scathing and committed filmmakers originating from Africa is backed up by his feature film "Juju Factory". The film screening was attended by the director and was part of a double programme, which was kicked off by a lecture – with many film excerpts – about the ghosts of colonialism in Africa and Europe, and aptly followed up by Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda‘s modern take on the subject in his film. This double event was the result of a cooperation with the AfricAvenir initiative and the Remember Resistance artists’ group from Berlin, and it centred upon the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda is originally from.

Filmography

Thomas Sankara: l'espoir assassiné (1991): Direction

Dix mille ans de cinéma (1991): Direction

LE DAMIER (THE DRAUGHSMEN CLASH) (1996): Screenplay, Direction

Watt (1999): Direction

Article 15 bis (1999): Direction

Juju Factory (2007): Screenplay, Direction

Nous aussi avons marché sur la lune (2009): Producer, Screenplay, Direction