PH
On Saturday, actors, directors, and film fans gathered at the Palais des Congrès in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé, for the annual Ecrans Noirs festival’s closing ceremony.
For the 27th edition of the festival, 48 films were chosen, with only 11 of them competing for the top prize, the Ecran d’Or.
Cameroonian Ellie Foumbi’s film “Mon père le diable” took first place this year.
“I particularly liked the feature films, I discovered a lot of them that were screened during the festival,” she said.
Numerous series, documentaries, and actors also received awards, including Stéphanie Tum.
“I’m very pleased to have won a prize for best Cameroonian actress and I’m pleased that our film also won a prize for best Central African film,” she said.
“We had a great week in Yaoundé and I hope we’ll be back next year to present other works and win other prizes.”
A number of African filmmakers attended the festival, and some of them came away with prizes, including Senegalese filmmaker Thomas Delgado, who won the Grand Prize for Best Scriptwriter.
“It’s really an award in recognition of everything I’ve done and all the sacrifices I’ve made to get to this point. I’d like to say a big thank you to the festival,” he said.
“But this is recognition for my work as a co-writer, because I worked on the script with my colleague Ousmane Mati Dudu Ndiaye.”
This year’s festival, which began on October 14, offered a diverse selection of African films.
The tribute to the late Senegalese cinema director, producer, and writer Sembène Ousmane, who would have turned 100 this year, was the event’s highlight this year.
