| Dieudo Hamadi | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 22, 1984 Kisangani |
| Citizenship | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Occupation(s) | Film director and screenwriter |
| Notable work | Kinshasa Makambo |
Dieudo Hamadi (born 1984) is a documentary filmmaker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Born in Kisangani, he was a teenager when the Six-Day War broke out in the region.
His first short documentary film, Ladies in Waiting (Dames en attente), won the Pierre et Yolande Perrault Grant for an emerging filmmaker at the Cinéma du Réel film festival in 2010. The film was part of Congo in Four Acts, an anthology of four short films by emerging Congolese filmmakers.
In 2013, his film Atalaku [fr] (Town Criers) won the festival's Joris Ivens Prize for Best First Film. In 2014 he won the festival's Potemkine and Société civile des auteurs multimédia awards for Examen d'État [fr] (National Diploma), and in 2017 he won the festival's Grand Prize for Mama Colonel.
In 2018, his film Kinshasa Makambo won the Tim Hetherington Award at the 2018 Sheffield DocFest, and the True Vision Award at the 2018 True/False Film Festival.
His 2020 film Downstream to Kinshasa (En route pour le milliard) was named an Official Selection of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, the first film from the Democratic Republic of the Congo ever nominated. Due to the cancellation of the festival in light of the COVID-19 pandemic in France, it was not screened at that time; however, it was given an online screening for distributors as part of the Marché du Film. It had its public premiere in September 2020 as part of the Planet Africa program at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received an honorable mention from the jury for the Amplify Voices Award.
Filmography
Hamadi's films include:
| Year | Film | Genre | Role | Duration (min) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Ladies in Waiting (Dames en attente) |
Short documentary on a maternity ward | Co-director with Divita Wa Lusala | 24 m |
| 2013 | Atalaku [fr] (Town Criers) |
Drama feature on Congo's 2011 presidential election | Director, screenwriter | 62 m |
| 2014 | Examen d'État [fr] (National Diploma) |
Documentary feature on Kisangani students | Director, screenwriter | 90 m |
| 2017 | Mama Colonel (Maman Colonelle) |
Documentary on a female police officer supporting victims of sexual abuse |
Director, screenwriter | 72 m |
| 2018 | Kinshasa Makambo | Documentary on Joseph Kabila's third term | Director, screenwriter | 75 m |
| 2020 | Downstream to Kinshasa (En route pour le milliard) |
Documentary on war invalids | Director, screenwriter | 90 m |
Awards
Hamadi's films obtained 16 awards and 23 nominations, including:
| Film | Festival | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Atalaku (Town Criers, 2013) |
Cinéma du Réel | 2013 Prix Joris Ivens du Meilleur Premier film |
| Examen d'État [fr] (National Diploma, 2014) |
Cinéma du Réel | 2014 Cinéma du Réel SCAM Award 2014 Cinéma du Réel Potemkine Award, (Prix des éditeurs) |
| Mama Colonel (Maman Colonelle, 2017) |
Berlin International Film Festival | 2017 Winner Prize of the Ecumenical Jury |
| Downstream to Kinshasa (En route pour le milliard, 2020) |
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) | 2020 Winner Amplify Voices Award Special mention |
| idem | Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival | 2021 Winner Silver Apricot Feature Competition |
| idem | International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights | 2021 Winner Gilda Vieira de Mello Award |
| idem | War on Screen | 2021 Winner International Jury Grand Prize |
References
- ^ Dieudo Hamadi at IMDb
- ^ Ekchajzer, François (October 7, 2021). "Le cinéaste Dieudo Hamadi, porte-parole des victimes de l'autre guerre des Six-Jours". telerama.fr (in French). Télérama.
- ^ "Dieudo Hamadi, Film director, Producer, Screenwriter, Editor, Assistant director". africine.org. Fédération africaine de la critique cinématographique (FACC). 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
Dieudonné Hamadi was born in Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo) on February 22, 1984 and studied biomedicine from 2005 to 2008, before moving into filmmaking.
- Siegfried Forster, "La traversée du réel". Radio France Internationale, March 30, 2010.
- Young, Neil (October 14, 2010). "Congo in Four Acts -- Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
- Antoinette Delafin, "RDC: «Atalaku» ou l’urgence du témoignage". Radio France Internationale, April 10, 2013.
- Patrick Kiamini, "Cinéma du réel : le film « Examen d’État » a remporté deux prix". Agence d'Information d'Afrique Centrale, April 10, 2014.
- Fabien Lemercier, "Mama Colonel emerges triumphant at Cinéma du Réel". Cineuropa, April 3, 2017.
- Ben Dalton, "'The Silence Of Others' takes top Sheffield Doc/Fest prize". Screen Daily, June 13, 2018.
- "Congolese filmmaker to receive True Vision Award". Columbia Missourian, February 6, 2018.
- Christopher Vourlias, "‘Downstream to Kinshasa,’ First Congolese Film in Cannes Official Selection, Honors Resilience of War Victims". Variety, June 26, 2020.
- Elsa Keslassy, "Cannes’ Virtual Marché du Film Unveils Expanded Cannes Docs Lineup". Variety, June 10, 2020.
- Jeremy Kay, "TIFF adds special events including new edition of Planet Africa, live talks series". Screen Daily, August 25, 2020.
- Daniele Alcinii, "TIFF ’20: “Inconvenient Indian” takes People’s Choice Documentary Award". RealScreen, September 21, 2020.
- Steve Macfarlane, "“You Must Be Reactive in the Face of Danger”: Dieudo Hamadi on Kinshasa Makambo". Filmmaker Magazine, March 13, 2018.
- Jonathan Romney, "‘Downstream To Kinshasa’: DOK Leipzig Review (Cannes Label)". Screen Daily, October 27, 2020.