Paulin Soumanou Vieyra

Known for: Directing
Born: January 31, 1925
Died: November 4, 1987
Birthplace: Porto-Novo, Benin

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.