As usual, Canal+Bénin once again supported the Terre d’Ébène association in promoting excellence in the field of cinema, through the 7th edition of Ciné 229 Awards. For several years, the Terre d’Ébène association has been supporting the Ciné 229 Awards project which is dedicated to the recognition of budding Beninese talents in the 7th art.
Around activities ranging from masterclasses to the major trophy presentation ceremony to the winners, film buffs, professionals and international stars rub shoulders and share their experiences. This year, candidates entered nineteen categories aligned across fiction, documentary and animated films. Added to this lot are three other prizes including the Grand Prize Djimon Hounsou, the Public’s Favorite prize and the Canal+ Special Prize for best female director. Kismath Baguiri, film and TV director, director of the Charles Ornel series and promoter of the 229 Awards cinema, made it known during the press conference held last Friday, December 6, that the objective of her association through this event , is to celebrate local talents, the talents of 229. These people who work to offer quality works to entertain viewers. ‹‹ It is important that we can show that there is a lot of potential locally, that we can provide opportunities for these talents to break down the barriers, the borders that limit us to go and make co-productions, tour in other countries and show that when the machine actually starts up here, we have people on whom we can count because they will have acquired more experience through all these opportunities that we will have given them ››, she said.
Each year, the organizing committee travels to Cotonoubig names in cinema, with fantastic opportunities for professional collaborations. For this year, the Ivorian actor Axel Trésor Gbalou, having played the character of Charles Ornel arrived at Benign to share his experiences with film buffs and this edition’s nominees, through various activities including masterclasses. Also, the presence of Sandra Luceinternational actress and actor coach to train casting nominees is one of this year’s new features. The coaching sessions she held with the nominees allowed her to analyze each participant, see their limits and give them solutions to move forward. ‹‹ With young filmmakers, I worked essentially on three pillars to launch an acting career. I work on the Personality, Tools, Mindset (POM) system. I work on three equally essential words which are truth, sincerity and authenticity ››, she said. She said she was impressed by these young Beninese cinema talents with whom she worked for several days.
-According to the general director of Canal+Bénin, Yacine AlaoCanal+ has been supporting Ciné 229 for 8 years, because it is an event that reveals budding talents in the 7th art. This is an initiative which is also part of Canal+’s solidarity action program called ”Canal+Impact’‘one of whose objectives is to contribute to the development of the audiovisual sector in Benin. ‹‹ Ciné 229 allows us to detect talents in terms of direction, production, screenwriting and many of all these professions which bring together filmmakers as a whole. Working for this event will make it possible to offer higher quality projects and content on A+Benin. The more we detect talents, quality people who have beautiful projects, and the more we can share, adopt spectators, share with the world the beauty of our works and the works of winning filmmaker talents ››, she added.
A promising Beninese cinema
Kismath Baguiri believes that Beninese cinema has a future because the quality of audiovisual productions improves over time. ‹‹Qhen we compare the films that we received in 2017 for the first edition, they have nothing to do with the films of 2024. And that was one of the main objectives of Ciné 229, which is to motivate creativity among young people and this competitive spirit that is born in them pushes each year, these young people to make more efforts, to say to themselves, next year, my film will be able to receive this or that prize ››, she indicated. In the same logic as her, Axel Trésor Gbalou finds that Beninese cinema, in the years to come, will be able to place itself on the world stage. According to him, to achieve this, each actor must make an effort to always be able to be competitive on the global cinema market. Ivorian by father and Beninese by mother, Axel Trésor Gbalou hopes that the authorities, whether at Benign, in Ivory Coast or in all African countries, can take an attentive look at the cinema sector. Because he believes that today, cinema brings together cultural diversity and represents a very important profession, even in education. It is appropriate to point out that the big evening of awards for young talents which crowns this edition of Ciné 229 took place last Saturday December 7 at Canal Olympia in Wologuèdè.
