Paulin Soumanou Vieyra

Birthday: 1925-01-31

Place of Birth: Porto-Novo, Benin

Biography: Benin-born, Senegal-raised filmmaker, theorist, and historian Paulin Soumanou Vieyra was a key figure, as both practitioner and thinker, in the creation and articulation of what a post-colonial African cinema would and could be. Along with producing essential texts like “Film and the Problem of Languages in Africa“ and “Remarks on African Cinema,” founding the important Fédération Panafricaine des Cinéastes, and mentoring the likes of Ousmane Sembène, Djibril Diop Mambéty, and Ababacar Samb-Makharam, Vieyra turned out a vital body of film work, documenting the birth of a new continental consciousness.