CAMERA OPERATOR

He studied cinema at the IAD (Institute of Media Arts Belgium) in 1978. In 2000, he made a 26’ documentary, La Pierre de Mbigou, shot on digital Betacam with an approximate budget of 50,000. It took him 5 years to get the money together. He received the support of the IGIS (former CENACI – National Center for Cinema), the ACCT, the French Embassy and French Cooperation. After having worked for more than 30 years, during which he participated in most of his country’s productions, his report is razor sharp:

Television, which should have been a driving force for the development of the audiovisual sector in general, did not turn out as expected. It was primarily used as a propaganda tool for dozens of years. All it produced was news, with no interest in investing in documentaries or any other mode of audiovisual narration. Today, it consumes programmes without buying them.

It is surprising to note that Gabon, one of the few countries in the area that actually has a film production budget as of the eighties, has not advanced further. It is also probably the only country that has invested in international co-productions: The Great White of Lambarene (Bassek Ba Khobio – Cameroon), The Draughtsmen Clash (Balufu Bakupa Kanyinda – DR Congo). To sustain a continuous and growing development, taxes are needed, as well as an independent financing system that would allow the industry to grow and establish itself. As soon as one has a sympathetic ear at the Ministry of Finances, the production budget is larger. As soon as that person quits his position, everything falls into the cracks. There is no political opening.

There is no training school as regards the audiovisual professions.

In this manner, technological advances, instead of helping to produce more, have contributed to the mediocrity of the sector. Working with film required a certain level of technical knowledge. You had to know about light, learn how to use it, and there were no images without lighting. With the new technologies, such considerations are often swept under the carpet. What the camera is capable of showing is enough. More often than not, the camera shows everything the same, with no nuances, and they are content with that, not developing the aesthetics in any way.

The problem of “continuity” is, without a doubt, one of the most ambivalent problems to solve. Cinema started with film shoots in Africa when laboratories did not yet exist. Movies were shot locally, and the film was developed in the West, and that was normal because the industry was not large enough to feed a professional laboratory. When digital filming arrived, filmmakers jumped on it as if it were the promised revolution.

However, digital in Africa was not the logical technical evolution as happened in the West. There, there was a process in which film slowly turned into digital, with a progressive adaptation of technicians, industry and intellectuals, which allowed digital to be used to its maximum when the movie professionals opted preferentially for digital over film. Africa did not experience this process. We went straight to digital, using the pretext that it is less expensive and “easier”. However, as we did not follow the evolution process of this technology, filmmakers have never been capable of exploiting digital in all its possibilities. Because the efficiency of its use also derives from the knowledge of traditional film: the color of the materials, lighting (natural/artificial), lenses, exposure (in relation to the color grading to follow), transfer, color grading and finished product. When you move on to digital after that process, you adapt, but you do not forget the basics.

With digital nowadays, all the work culture that existed around film has disappeared. Young people do not have a school that allows them to learn that part from the source. They take flight without understanding the invisible mechanisms.

DIRECTOR

He studied Dramatic Arts and Direction at the ENAM. His passion for cinema led him to work as an actor in TV series, but the scarcity of work pushed him into producing. He is among those creators whom we call “Independent”. He did not bud from the classical state studies. He did not receive a formation. He learned cinema on the roll and he developed a concept that he calls “Gabon Foremost”. They are small fictions based on true, everyday facts and corruption. He has a small production infrastructure and builds his films around a group of actors that work with him. He is capable of making a feature film with very little money. The money is distributed between salaries and consumables. There are 20 shooting days.

It is impossible for an independent director to work with technicians from the IGIS (Gabonese Institute of Image and Sound), the official film organism. An IGIS technician costs 460/day and, above all, they have a different mentality. The “Independents” do not fit in the mold, but they have the advantage of having popular legitimacy. They fill the rooms when they screen their films, they sell their DVDs to the general public. They exist.

It is true that this cinema, straight off the street, has technical flaws. The directors look for training, but the official system is so locked down that it is impossible to enter. It is a buddy system, and that is the only way it works.

Being able to work with a script consultant, train on professional productions or work with true professionals would make anyone happy, but it is just not possible.

Do independent directors shoot documentaries? And why do they do it? How do they manage to make their money back?

A production born in the streets and that awakens popular enthusiasm, is there anything more normal? People are happy because, finally, they have a chance to be portrayed in their own reality, in their lives, with their fantasies and excesses.

The vitality of street cinema (a concept that is also a contestable truth) has its own strengths. There are a great deal of productions, they shoot as soon as possible and they concentrate on the essential, the story. It is an uncomplicated approach, with little to prove to the world and that is justified by its links to the public. If all these attributes could be linked to a more developed film language, we would most certainly witness an explosion of creativity. However, a television writing format anchored by very obvious codes, limits the development of films outside their natural framework, and we witness the development of two parallel economies. One on hand, the state structure represented by IGIS, that follows traditional film methods and, on the other, the “Independent” directors who make films with few means and who film a lot more.

It is interesting to see that, in countries where the system is more developed, more mature economically, this duality does not exist, or does not show itself in the same way. The independent group would most likely work in television, because their rhythm and their writing style lend themselves to such. The group working with the state organisms, would dedicate itself to a cinema both national and international because their concept of images, of time, has a different set of rules. All the pieces are there, but there is no system or backing, no balance, and no one can find his place.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Ruled by autocratic presidents since independence from France in 1960, Gabon introduced a multiparty system and a new constitution in the early 1990s that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and for reforms of governmental institutions. A small population, abundant natural resources, and considerable foreign support have helped make Gabon one of the more prosperous black African countries.

HISTORY OF CINEMA FROM 1896-2000

Gabon gained independence from France in 1960. As with many other African countries the leadership was far from prepared to start a democratic process. The second freely elected president, Albert Bernard Bongo, rapidly took over full control, in a one party system. He turned the local radio and TV network into one of the most advanced in the region, all to be able to glorify his political system. Bongo influence, the power to replace every candidate in a major public role had an impact on the CENACI (Cinematic Centre)…that in the case of a vacancy for an executive position in the public media, the President has to select a candidate from a list of applicants drawn up by the CNC (Loi N8 14/91, 31). By this law the CNC managed to stop a presidential candidate from being appointed as executive director of the Centre National du Cinéma (CENACI) substituting the CNC’s candidate, Roland Duboze, a long-time critic of the Bongo regime.

Explorers, ethnologists and filmmakers have for long travelled the length and breadth of the country, oblivious to the fact that Gabon has many hidden natural riches. The list of films “made in Gabon” during colonial times is a very short one indeed.

Philippe Mory set the CENACI (National Center of Gabonese Cinema) in motion. Order number 39/75/ PR of June 25, 1975 created the National Center of Cinema (CENACI) to promote the development of the film industry. In that capacity, the CENACI controls and organises the production, coproduction and distribution of films. It is also in charge of producing the filming of current events in Gabon.

Placed under the tutelage of the Ministry of Communications, the CENACI enjoys financial independence. But the 550 million FCFA allotted by the State each year is not enough for it to fulfill all the missions it is assigned (in 2011, around 335 million FCFA according to its director).

Most Gabonese films are produced thanks to the support of France: L’Ombre de liberty (The Shadow of Freedom) by Imunga Ivanga (Fonds Sud Cinéma), Inspecteur Sori (Inspector Sori) by Mamady Sidibe (Fonds Images Afrique), Le Divorce (The Divorce) by Manouchka Kelly Labouba (FACMAS). France is the country that most contributes, alongside the OIF (International Organisation of French-Speaking Communities), to the Gabonese cultural industries.

As regards the fields of television and radio, the French contribution is mostly made in the form of training personnel and furnishing programmes. The partnership signed between Canal France International (CFI), the two public televisions and the private television TV+, do effectively allow RTG 1 and 2 to enjoy, free of charge, the complete programming of CF1; and allows TV+ to receive daily news media monitoring. In 2006, for example, 1339 hours of CFI programming were broadcast on the two public channels.

France also backs cultural industries via its cultural center located in the heart of the Gabonese capital. The

CCF Saint-Exupéry in Libreville is a space dedicated to the promotion of culture and meetings in which writers, musicians, singers and filmmakers follow, one after another, presenting their creations. It has one sole movie hall that regularly screens Gabonese films, and the largest public library in the country. This library houses a collection of documents on Gabon comprising more than 3,000 titles – books, memoirs, theses, journals, photographs, postcards, stamps, vinyl records, audio cassettes, etc.

As of 2007, and in collaboration with the Centre Culturel Français Saint Exupéry (Saint Exupery French Cultural Center), the CENACI launched a documentary film festival dubbed “Escales documentaires de Libreville” (Documentary Layovers of Libreville), whose purpose is to promote film culture in the country.

The IGIS (Gabonese Institute of Image and Sound) was created in February, 2010. This is the new name of the former CENACI (National Center of Cinema), created, in its moment, in 1975. The mission of the Gabonese Institute of Image and Sound is to develop Gabonese film and audiovisual production, in order to face one of the main challenges today, which is the protection and promotion of its cultural identity in a globalized world. Its General Director is the director and creator, Imunga IVANGA.

DIRECTOR OF THE GABONESE INSTITUTE

Like Charles Mensah said, “The problem with Gabonese cinema is that it is piecemeal”. There are no infrastructures…producing a film depletes a director and his friends for years to come.

II: Documentary films are privileged nowadays insofar as their economy is more feasible. Five years ago, we started a documentary film festival in Gabon, partnering up with the IGIS – then the CENACI – and the French Cultural Center, under the umbrella of French Cooperation. The idea was to make Libreville the hub of French-speaking documentaries in Africa.

OB:  That’s all?

II: We have great ambitions for the long run. Les Escales Documentaires de Libreville (EDL) allowed us to focus on documentary creation in Gabon, in Africa, at the same time we opened the doors to international documentaries. In 2010, during the 5th edition which took place from November 22-27, we had the privilege of screening, for the first time on the African continent, the four episodes of the series Africa(s), Another Story. And that gave rise to lively debates. One of the directors, Alain Ferrari, and the journalist Philippe Sainteny were present at Libreville. In the seventies, Alain Ferrari had co-directed a television soap, Où vas- tu, Koumba?, with Gabonese director, Simon Augé. The trust is there, all we need to do is pursue what we started. Meeting with the public, but also with the students, is fundamental: it helps build people’s view, and now we have an assiduous and passionate audience. After three years, a call for screenplays for documentary films lets us reinforce local documentary production. And so two films were presented at the Escales this year. We are going to take them to other festivals, which will contribute to making our work known.

OB: This documentary pursuit, is it conceived to compete with other countries engaged on the same route? 

II: No, what we want to do is nourish partnerships, and we believe that it is necessary to create synergies. We actively chose to create a non competitive festival, we do not grant prizes, and that creates room for serenity. People come to meet up, talk, develop documentaries and develop an audience. The involvement of the public powers should be more important, and that of the filmmakers even more so, to achieve the goals we seek.

OB: Distribution of documentaries does not exist outside television and a few international festivals, as a representative of the State, can you speak directly to the television channels?

II: That is precisely one of the actions we are working on. The festival is but an isolated event. And television nowadays has an enormous offer: national public African channels, package televisions… We want to involve them in the organisation of the festival and the films, from the start, the financing phase, which would guarantee distribution. But it is a complicated process and cannot be done at one go.

OB:  It’s true that it is not a usual habit of African televisions to buy documentary works.

II: Exactly. But there are channels such as Africable, Africa 24 or Voxafrica that do, even if they are mainly dedicated to the news. And new tendencies come forth. We will soon have African theme channels which we can take advantage of. We also contact channels outside the continent that do broadcast documentaries.

OB: You spoke of training, does that affect documentaries as well?

II: Yes, but not only documentaries. We are going to start workshops on lighting, sound, direction, production design, production, etc. We need to reinforce what we already know and take into account the technological evolution. Our technicians are often young and have not capitalized on shooting experience, those that do have experience need to re-learn, adapt to the constant evolution. There will be workshops with experts in each field, African or not African, in cycles, and we will try to make them coincide with certain productions to be able to work on something concrete. During the last edition of the festival, we organised a training seminar on cultural journalism directed by Thierno Ibrahima Dia. And this is very important, because if our work is not relayed in an efficient manner, objectively and/or subjectively, by professional critics, it has no impact. The challenge is to walk alongside the audience in their reading, their comprehension of the films they have seen; that will confirm or invalidate what they have experienced. And for the professionals, it is a great opportunity to get feedback, it is a chance to question their own work and take it further.

OB: If a film, even a documentary, exists for the media, then it really exists?

II: Exactly. We are talking about documentaries, but we also develop television projects, notably television fictions, series and TV movies, with a different mentality. And that should help us to train directors in short and long fiction features.

• Cage (La) 1963, Robert Darène
• Tams tams se sont tus (Les) 1971, Philippe Mory
• Identité 1972, Pierre-Marie Dong
• Obali (1ère version) 1973, Philippe Mory
• Obali 1976, Charles Mensah, Pierre-Marie Dong
• Ayouma 1977, Charles Mensah, Pierre-Marie Dong
• Demain, un jour nouveau 1978, Pierre-Marie Dong
• Équateur 1983, Serge Gainsbourg
• Singe fou (Le) 1986, Henri-Joseph Koumba Bididi
• Raphia 1987, Paul Mouketa (Dread Pol)
• Grand blanc de Lambaréné (Le) 1995, Bassek BaKobhio
• Au bout du fleuve 1996, Imunga Ivanga
• Grenouille qui veut se faire aussi grosse que le boeuf (La) 1996, Imunga Ivanga
• Go zamb’olowi 1999, Imunga Ivanga
• Dôlè (L’argent) 2000, Imunga Ivanga
• Couilles de l’éléphant (Les) 2001, Henri-Joseph Koumba Bididi
• Ombre de Liberty (L’) 2005, Imunga Ivanga
• Songe au rêve 2006, Nadine Otsobogo Boucher
• Jour de la grand nuit (Le) 2007, Henri-Joseph Koumba Bididi
• Divorce (Le) 2008, Kelly Labouba
• Confession finale 2008, André Côme Ottong
• Collier du Makoko (Le) 2011, Henri-Joseph Koumba Bididi

• À l’aube du quatrième jour Henri-Joseph Koumba Bididi
• Sur le sentier du requiem 1971, Pierre-Marie Dong
• Il était une fois Libreville 1972, Simon Augé
• Anthropologie Visuelle 1983, Paul Mouketa (Dread Pol)
• Regards au pluriel 1984, Paul Mouketa (Dread Pol)
• Jeunes sont formidables (Les) 1986, Rose Elise Mengue-bekale
• Tirailleurs d’ailleurs (Les) 1996, Imunga Ivanga
• Pierre de Mbigou 1998, Roland Duboze
• Souffle de la forêt (Le) 1998, Jean-Claude Cheyssial
• Peuple de la forêt, Le 1999, Jean-Claude Cheyssial
• Flots de Libreville (Les) 2000, Imunga Ivanga
• Au commencement était le verbe (le Mvett) 2000, Antoine Abessolo Minko
• Voir l’invisible, une initiation au Bwete Misoko 2003, Julien Bonhomme
• Chemin de l’espoir 2005, Victorine Bella Meyo
• Jeanne la Pêcheuse 2007, Pol Minko
• De fil en aiguilles… le parcours d’un artiste 2007, Pol Minko
• Gabao Hip Hop unis et engagés 2007, Audrey Yaa
• Il est une fois… Naneth 2007, Nadine Otsobogo Boucher
• Lybek, le croqueur du vif 2007, Jean Roger Mavoungou Edima
• Gabon: The Last Dance 2008, Josh Ponte
• Ceux qui mangent le bois 2008, Reza Serkanian
• Gullah 2009, Jean-Christian Chavihot
• Itchinda ou la circoncision chez les Mahongwe 2009, Antoine Abessolo Minko
• Il était une fois Philippe Mory 2009, Issaka Compaoré
• Oliver N’Goma le crooner 2010, René Paul Sousatte
• Nouvelles écritures de soi (Les) 2010, Alice Aterianus
• Rhythm of my life Ismael Sankara (The) 2011, Franck Onouviet, Marc A. Tchicot
• Maréchalat du roi Dieu (Le) 2011, Yveline Nathalie Pontalier
• Annie Flore Batchiellilys, Sur la route des Anges 2011, Jean Roke Patoudem