Charles Onana

Charles Onana

Biography

The Cameroon-born documentary-maker studied anthropology and international relations in Paris, and has worked as a journalist since graduating, while also founding the publishing house “Editions Duboiris”. He has published background studies on armed conflicts in Africa and the role France has played in them, such as the genocide in Rwanda, for example (“The Secrets of the Rwandan Genocide”). In 2003, he presented a well-founded historical study on the treatment of African (colonial) soldiers in the French army from 1939 until 2003, which was published as a book under the title “La France et ses Tirailleurs” (France and its Skirmishers).
Charles Onana recently published a biography of Charles N’Tchorere, who was one of the few officers of African origin in the French army. In 1940, when he became a German prisoner of war while defending France, he was executed by the Germans because he insisted on being treated the same way as the white French officers. Due to his profound historical knowledge of the participation of Africans in the Second World War, Charles Onana has been consulted about the making of various documentaries, such as “La Couleur du Sacrifice” by Mourad Boucif about colonial soldiers from the Maghreb, and also for the film “Devoir de Mémoire” by Cheikh Tidiane Ndiaye from Senegal and the feature film “Indigènes” (Days of Glory) by Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb.
In his 2009 documentary “La France et ses Liberateurs” (France and its Liberators), Onana presents the findings of his research into the history of African involvement in the French army and of his meetings with African contemporary witnesses who were involved in the Second World War.

Filmography

La France et ses liberateurs (2009): Direction