The film "Pegasus", the Moroccan Mohamed Mouftakir, won Saturday night the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, the highest award of the Festival Pan African Film and Television of Ouagadougou (Fespaco), the great rendezvous of African cinema .
The director received the trophy from Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore at the closing ceremony of the 22nd Fespaco, held in the largest stadium in the capital in the presence of about 20,000 people.
"The price is a pride, that recognition.That's encouraging, "he told the press the director thanking the jury, chaired by the Gambian university M'Baye Cham.
Located in the Moroccan countryside, "Pegasus", the debut film of a young filmmaker, is a story of rape and incest, the drama of Rihanna, a young girl of twenty years manipulated by his father who believe she is pregnant with a demon.
Eighteen films were competing in the feature film category.
The Silver Stallion went to "A man who cries," Mahamat Saleh Haroun from Chad, who had received the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2010 for this film.
The romantic comedy "The guy ideal" of the Ivorian Owell Brown won the bronze stallion.
The Jury Prize went to "Our foreign" the Burkinabe Sarah Bouyain.
The best actor award was given to Benin Sylvestre Amoussou, also director of "A step forward, the bottom of corruption," and Best Actress Samia Meziane in "Journey to Algiers" the Algerian Abdelkrim Bahloul.
The latter also won the award for best screenplay for "Journey to Algiers."
"The Loves of a zombie" by Arnold Antonin (Haiti) has awarded the African Diaspora.
While some critics and filmmakers have been disappointed by the level of Fespaco, M.Compaore has hailed "a victory for Africa" and "a quality production that can integrate markets. "We need to encourage filmmakers to build partnerships and diversify production," he said.
The ceremony was choreographed by the company Salia Ni Seydou Burkina Faso, and the star of the Congolese song Fally Fally has "made the show.
For this edition, a record number of films, 475 were presented to the organizers who did not expect that 300.But they have retained that 195 works, including 111 competing in various categories.
However, "the South Fund (French agency for the support of cinema in the South, ed), the share of African products has increased from 34% of applications approved for the period 84-88 to 12% in 2005-2009" , said Saturday afternoon the French Minister of Culture Frederic Mitterrand, who attended the closing.
It has announced "before summer" a conference on aid to African cinema, to improve coordination and access.
The general consensus, the organization of the Fespaco was satisfactory, whereas accreditation problems and programming marred the celebration of African cinema in the last edition in 2009.
Fespaco remains a popular festival where moviegoers alongside celebrities and other guests. It was established in 1969 "by passionate movie buffs and some directors in order that the African public look at his own images and appropriates them," says the Tunisian filmmaker Ferid Boughedir.
