Sékoumar Barry

Sékoumar Barry
Born1935
Forécariah, Guinea
OccupationFilm director, filmmaker, screenwriter
LanguageFrench
NationalityGuinean
Notable worksfilm Et Vint la Liberté (1969)

Sékoumar Barry (also Sékou Oumar Barry, born in 1935) is a Guinean film director and screenwriter who studied filmmaking in France and in former Yugoslavia and in 2024 is living in Conakry.[1][2][3][4]

Barry studied film in France with a scholarship, when at home in Guinea the 1958 Guinean constitutional referendum rejected De Gaulle's proposal for a French-African communauté (commonwealth) instead of national independence.[4] Barry's French scholarship was revoked, but after his return to Guinea the new president Sékou Touré wanted him and others to continue studying filmmaking abroad, Barry in former Yugoslavia.

Back in Conakry, the young film directors became civil servants with the state film production and distribution company Syli Cinéma. After making short documentaries on rice cultivation (Grenier à riz, translation: Granary) and sanitation (L'Assainissement), the government in 1968 enabled Barry to create the nationalist film Et vint la liberté (And freedom came) celebrating the ten-year jubilee of Guinean independence.[4] Touré's regime was based on terror, locking up thousands after the botched coup attempt of 1970, most of them in the concentration camp Boiro. Barry and other filmmakers were arrested and tortured, but he was released after eight months.[4]

Filmography

Barry's films include:[1][3]

Year Film Genre Role Duration (min)
1965 Assainissement (L') (translated title: Sanitation) Documentary Director 30 m
1966 Mory le crabe (Crab Mory) Comedy about jealousy Director 40 m
1968 Et vint la liberté
(And freedom came)		 Documentary on the independence of Guinea,
starring Ahmed Sékou Touré. Black and white		 Director and screenwriter 45 m[5]/ 90 min[6]

Videos

References

  1. ^ a b "Sékoumar Barry. Réalisateur/trice". africine.org (in French). Fédération africaine de la critique cinématographique (FACC). 2020. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  2. ^ "Sékoumar Barry. Réalisateur/trice". africultures.com (in French). Africultures. Les mondes en relation. 2019. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  3. ^ a b Sékoumar Barry at IMDb
  4. ^ a b c d Online version: "De film die al 55 jaar Guinee's onafhankelijkheid bezingt, pijnigt de bejubelde maker nu: 'Ook wij geloofden in revolutie'" [The film that has celebrated Guinean independence for 55 years is now hurting its acclaimed creator. ‘We too believed in revolution’]. nrc.nl (in Dutch). NRC. October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024. We were the pioneers of West Africa's cinema. Paper print version: Oude Elferink, Eva (October 2, 2024). "Interview Sékou Oumar Barry. 'We waren de voorlopers in West-Afrika'" [Interview Sékou Oumar Barry. 'We were the forerunners in West Africa']. nrc.nl (in Dutch). NRC.
  5. ^ ...Et vint la liberté at IMDb
  6. ^ "Et vint la liberté". africine.org (in French). Fédération africaine de la critique cinématographique (FACC). 2020. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
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