For the 27th edition of the Ecrans noirs festival (to be held in Yaoundé on October 14-21, 2023), eleven feature films are competing for the Ecran d'Or, the most coveted award at this annual event. The question already haunting critics is who will succeed Cameroon's Eystein Young Dingha who won last year's Ecran d'Or  with his film "The Planters Plantation."

Two Cameroonian feature films are in the starting blocks. The most prominent is "Mon père, le diable" by Ellie Foumbi, a Cameroonian director now based in New York, who began her career in cinema as an actress. She admits she became involved in the seventh art after reading the American journalist Po Brownson. Since then, she has followed in her footsteps with several films, most notably "Mon père, le diable" (My Father, the Devil), released in 2021, which Ellie Foumbi presented at the Venice Biennale.

The other Cameroonian film in the starting blocks for this year's Ecran d'Or is "When the levees broke". It is directed by Musing Derick Tenn, who hails from Buea in the South-West that has become the breeding ground for filmmakers. After his studies, Musing Derick Tenn quickly became a director. Last year, his film, “Therapy”, was streamed on Netflix.  This year, he could become the second Cameroonian to win the Écran d'Or after Eystein Young Dingha.

The two Cameroonians are competing against doyens like Senegal’s Clarence Delgado (70) and his film "Que le père soit" (May the Father Be) or Morocco's Maryam Touzani, already nominated at Cannes for the Un Certain Regard award. She will be presenting her latest film, "Le bleu de Caftan". Both are likely to win this Écran d'Or.

Michel Ange Nga