Jean-Michel Tchissoukou
Jean-Michel Tchissoukou (1942-1987)
This Congolese film director was born in Pointe Noire in 1942. He studied cinema at the Institut National de l'Audiovisel (INA) and at the Office de Coopération radiophonique (OCORA) in Paris. Then, and during ten years, he worked for the national television channel in Congo. His skills in photography and film shooting lead him to directing his first short film called Illusions, which describes the exodus of young people from the fields to the main cities in Congo.
He worked as an assistant during the shooting of Sambizanga (1972) from the director Sarah Maldoror, a film that was immediately considered as a masterpiece of African cinema.
His first feature film called La Chapelle in 1979 won an award at the Fespaco festival in 1981. The film depicts the tensions between traditionnal african religions and the catholic church in the colonial 1930's. His second feature film M’Pongo /Les Lutteurs, from 1982, is a mix of fiction and documentary where the Congolese culture and identity are analyzed.
This highly respected director died in 1997 in Brazzaville.
The Wrestlers - M'Pongo (1982)
Between 1930 and 1960 there was a conflict of civilisation in Congo as in most Africa.The director adapts this conflict in a classroom during the gymnastic class.Malapet, an ancient wrestler is the adviser of the gymnastic teacher. He gives a demonstration of this traditional fight to the pupils that react differently. Adouki is fascinated and to prove his courage defies Malapet in a struggle during the festival between the villages.He is of course put out and desperate think of suicide. Weiter
