Idrissou Mora Kpaï

Réalisateur et scénariste béninois-allemand.

Né au Bénin en 1967, Idrissou Mora Kpai a quitté son pays à 19 ans, avec le bac en poche. Après avoir séjourné en Algérie, puis en Italie, il décide de s’installer en Allemagne. Il étudie la civilisation américaine à l’Université libre de Berlin, avant de se présenter au concours d’entrée à l’école supérieure de cinéma et de la télévision de Babelsberg, où il est admis dans la section Réalisation.
Ses études de cinéma achevées, Idrissou s’installe en 1999 à Paris, où il réalise son premier long-métrage de documentaire, Si-Gueriki, la Reine-Mère, une oeuvre intime tournée dans le Nord du Bénin où le cinéaste se confronte, après dix ans d’absence, à son histoire personnelle.
Sorti en salle en France, ce film a reçu plusieurs distinctions, dont le prix du meilleur documentaire francophone 2003 à Namur. Devenu producteur de ses films, Idrissou vit et travaille entre Cologne et Paris. Il développe à partir de 2017, son premier long métrage fiction, Border (projet présenté au Durban FilmMart 2017).

Filmographie //
– ARLIT, Deuxième Paris, 78mn ; 35mm (MKJ FILMS 2005)
– Si-Gueriki, La Reine-Mère, 62mn ; 35mm (Films du Raphia 2002)
– Fake soldier, 24mn ; Super 16 (HFF 1998)
– Fugace, 11mn ; 16mm (HFF 1996)
– Ausländer, 9mn ; 16mm (HFF 1994)

Beninese-German Filmmaker.

Idrissou Mora Kpai was born in 1967 in Benin where he lived until graduating from highschool. After spending some years in Algeria and Italy, he went to Germany and started studying American Civilisation at the Freie Universität Berlin. 1994 he applied for admission at the School for Film and Television Babelsberg. After passing successfully the entrance examination, he started studying at the directing department.
In 1999 Idrissou finished his studies and went to Paris where he realized his first long documentary feature. « Si-Gueriki, the Queen Mother » is a personal movie shot in his home country Benin where he returned after a ten years’absence. The movie was shown in French movie theatres as well as on numerous festivals around the world. The film received several distinctions, among them the prize for the best frenchspeaking documentary feature at the festival in Namur in 2003. In 2002 Idrissou set up his own production company MKJ Films, short after Noble Films, a film production company he founded in 2000, in Cotnou (Benin) along with producer Arouna Sacca Mora-Kpai. He now lives in Paris and in Cologne.
He developed in 2017, his first feature narrative, Border (project selected at au Durban FilmMart 2017).

Idrissou Mora-kpai is an award-winning, independent filmmaker who graduated from the Potsdam Babelsberg’s Film University. His films include three documentaries: Si Gueriki, Arlit – The Second Paris, Indochina – Traces of a Mother and two short narratives: Fugace and Fake Soldiers. Idrissou’s films have been presented at international film festivals in Berlin, Rotterdam, Vienna, Milano, Busan, Sheffield, Ouagadougou, Namur, and has garnered many international accolades. In 2013, he received the prestigious, Dutch Prince Claus Award for his artistic achievements, dedicated to promoting social change. In 2017, Idrissou took up a teaching position at the University of Pittsburgh.

Filmography //
– ARLIT, Deuxième Paris, 78mn ; 35mm (MKJ FILMS 2005)
– Si-Gueriki, La Reine-Mère, 62mn ; 35mm (Films du Raphia 2002)
– Fake soldier, 24mn ; Super 16 (HFF 1998)
– Fugace, 11mn ; 16mm (HFF 1996)
– Ausländer, 9mn ; 16mm (HFF 1994)

Source: Durban FilmMart 2017 (Project E-Dossier)
Updated by Thierno I. Dia, on 10 Feb 2018