Benoît Ramampy
Directing
Biography
Benoît Ramampy (1947-1996) was a Malagasy film director. He was born in Ambalavao in 1947. He trained in Paris at the world music record label Ocora and Radio France. On his return to Madagascar, he studied at the Malagasy Production Centre. His short film The Accident, about a son who tragically kills his father, won the award for best short film at the 4th FESPACO.
Known For
In Madagascar, on the road to Ivato, a boy drives his car into a young peasant who dies as a result of the accident, leaving the latter's family destitute. From this, the director highlights the privileges enjoyed by a certain Malagasy bourgeoisie - to the detriment of a hardworking and perpetually exploited population.
The Accident
This documentary shows how cinema has been used very differently in three neighbouring African countries with different colonial heritages: Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Madagascar. Mozambique used cinema newsreels as a crucial propaganda tool after the Portugese colonisers left. Madagascar boycotted US movies, so its screens were dominated by French, Indian and Hong Kong films instead. But a few films managed to get made. The situation in Zimbabwe was the worst, except that alone of the three countries it possessed an efficient film laboratory.