Birth name: Joseph GAYE Ramaka Joseph Gaï Ramaka Independent Screenwriter and Filmmaker Co-President & Festival Director of Noafest 2670 Havana Street New Orleans, LA 70119-1240 1 504-942-8542 1 504-460-3916 http://karmen.afrikblog.com/ http://neworleansafrikanfilmfest.org/index.php Brief Profile Mr. Ramaka is originally from Saint Louis, Senegal (West Africa), but resided for many years in Paris, France. Since January 2008, he has taken up residence in New Orleans, Louisiana. He studied Visual Anthropology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, and Film at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques, at l'Université de Paris VIII. He set up his own production and distribution company, Les Ateliers de l'Arche, in France in 1990, and another in Senegal in 1997. In 1998, the company opened Espace Bel'Arte in Senegal's capital city of Dakar, a space dedicated to the diffusion of independent films in their original versions and venue for activities aimed at school children and high school students. Ramaka has written, produced, and directed several screenplays and films, including Ainsi soit-il (So Be It). This short film was part of the series Africa Dreaming, which includes contemporary stories of love from several countries in Africa. The film received the Silver Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1997. Karmen Geï is his first feature film, adapted from the French opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. This first African film version of the Carmen story, a musical tragedy, was shown at several international film festivals in 2001-2002, including Cannes (France) and Sundance (USA), as well as a dozen television stations around the world. Ramaka's latest project, And What if Latif Were Right!, focusing on the assassination of a public official and the sinking of a passenger ship off the coast of Senegal, examines the culture of autocracy under current Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade. Ramaka was first invited to Indiana University Bloomington for a brief visit by the Department of Comparative Literature in 2006. In March 2007, he led a team of IU students in videotaping an international symposium on Senegalese literature and culture, organized on the Bloomington campus by the Project on African Expressive Traditions (POAET) and African Studies Program. As a Visiting Research Associate, he is making a documentary from that footage on the symposium. He was also interviewed recently by the Black Film Center/Archive at IU Bloomington for its publication Black Camera. He currently lives in New Orleans, where he is co- President and director of the New Orléans Afrikan Film and Arts Festival (NOAFEST). NOAFEST's audio-visual workshop is currently producing a film, directed by local students under his supervision, on a collaborative performance between the New Orleans Ballet Association and the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra. NOAFEST's Cinéma Première screens international and American films in the presence of filmmakers and in different venues in New Orleans. Ramaka is in the process of establishing a production company, Colored People's Time. Scripts Fragments à deux et mille voix - L.M Fiction Combat de Nègre et de Chiens - L.M d'après la pièce de Bernard - Marie Koltes - L.M Fiction Sugar Bowl - d'après une nouvelle de Chester Himes - L.M Fiction Karmen - d'après l'opéra de Bezet - L.M Fiction La nuit du Varan - - L.M Fiction Ainsi soit-il - d'après une pièce de Wole Soyinka - L.M Fiction Le Train Bleu - L.M - Fiction Et si Latif avait raison ! - L.M Documentaire Filmography It's My Man! - 2009 - documentaire - numérique - 60 mn Et si Latif avait raison ! - 2006, documentaire - numérique, 95 min. Prix du Film Documentaire au Festival Vues d'Afrique Karmen - 2001 - Fiction - 35mm - dolby stéréo - 85 min. Quinzaine des Réalisateurs - Festival de Cannes 2001 Sundance Film Festival Festival de Toronto Opening Night New York African Film Festival Opening Night "Vues d'Afrique" Film Festival (Montréal) Award Best Feature - Pan African Film Festival of Los Angeles Diffusions: La Sept Arte, France Ô Ainsi soit-il - 1997 - Fiction - 35 mm - dolby stéréo - 33 min. Lion d'Argent - Premier prix de la Section Corto-cortissimo de la 54e Mostra Internationale d'Arte Cinematografica de Venise. Premier Prix du court métrage au Festival Vues d'Afrique 1998. Diffusion: La Sept Arte Baby Sister - 1997 - Fiction - 35 mm, -12 min. Tournage d'une maquette pour un projet de long métrage Nitt... N'Doxx - Les Faiseurs de pluie - 1989 - documentaire - 16 mm - 85 min. Mostra Internationale de Rimini (Italie) Diffusion: Chanel 4 et la Sept Arte La Musique lyrique Peul - 1986 - documentaire - court métrage - 10 min. Diffusion: FR3 Portrait d'un mannequin - 1986 - documentaire - court métrage - 10 min. Diffusion : FR3 Baaw-Naan - Rites de pluie - 1985- documentaire - court métrage - 16 mm - 25 min. Masque d'Or du film documentaire, 2ème Festival International du Film sur le Carnaval et la Fête à Nice Mention spéciale du Jury du 4ème Bilan du Film Ethnographique à Paris Premier prix du court métrage du 2ème Festival de Pérouse (Italie) Productions et co-productions It's My Man! 2009 Et si Latif avait raison ! De Joseph Gaye Ramaka Documentaire numérique, 95 minutes, 2006 Karmen De Joseph Gaye Ramaka Fiction 35 mm, 85 minutes, 2001 Ainsi soit-il De Joseph Gaye Ramaka Fiction 35 mm, 33 minutes, 1996 Africa Dreaming Fiction 35 mm, 180 minutes, 1997 Demain je brûle De Mohamed Ben Ismail Fiction 35 mm, 90 minutes, 1997 Au bout du fleuve De Imunga Ivanga Fiction 16 mm, 26 minutes, 1997 Idylle De Dominique Camara Fiction 16 mm, 1996 Le jardin jardin des corps De Raymond Rajaonarivelo Documentaire S16 mm, 10 minutes, 1995 Il cantastorie De Anne Alix Documentaire S16 mm, 52 minutes, 1995 Thunder Ten Tronkh De Alban Guitteni Fiction S16 mm, 20 minutes, 1995 Niiwam De Clarence Delgado Fiction S16 mm, 85 minutes, 1992 Les Faiseurs de pluie De Joseph Gaye Ramaka Documentaire 16 mm, 52 minutes, 1994 O Santo Daime De Patrick Deshayes Fiction S16 mm, 97 minutes, 1993 Boxulmaleen / L'an... Fer De Amet Diallo Fiction 16 mm, 30 minutes, 1990 Lola Posse De Benoît Cohen Fiction S16 mm, 20 minutes