Emmanuella Lalanga
- Writer
- Director
Emmanuella Lalanga was born in the city of Bossemptélé, Central African Republic, in 1998. After obtaining her baccalaureate, she earned a Bachelor's degree in Private Law from the University of Bangui in 2022, followed by a Master's degree in Criminal and Penal Sciences in 2023.
From her childhood, Emmanuella has been passionate about literature and enjoys writing stories. In 2020, the Alliance Française of Bangui offered a cinema career training program in collaboration with CinéFabrique (a film school in Lyon, France). Emmanuella was selected among hundreds of candidates and attended the screenplay section of the program from 2021 to 2022, with instructors including Boris Lojkine, Naël Marandin, and Joël Karekezi.
During this training, Emmanuella wrote and directed her first short film, "Pas avant le Bac," which tells the story of a young man who refuses to make love with his girlfriend until she graduates from high school, causing confusion and rejection from his surroundings. A few months later, she wrote a second short film, which was directed by her friend Jaëlla Pathé, whom she assisted in directing: "Ta Wali," focuses on a young woman who, to break free from her husband's financial control, decides to become a motorcycle taxi driver, a profession usually reserved for men.
"Pas avant le Bac" won the Bantou award at the "Bangui fait son cinéma" festival in the Central African Republic in November 2022. It was selected for the "Les Terranga" festival in Senegal in April 2023 and for the Panorama program of the "Côté Court" festival in Pantin, France, in June 2023.
"Ta Wali" was selected for competition at the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa in the short film category in July 2023.
Since completing the CinéBangui program, Emmanuella has continued to write. As of March 2024, she's working on her second short film, "Ndèko," with Eyes Production in the Central African Republic and Tchik Tchik Productions in France. It tells the story of a thwarted love affair between a 27-year-old woman and the priest of her parish. She plans to direct this movie in 2024.
In parallel, Emmanuella is developing her first feature film, "Voundou," with Makongo Films. This project was presented at the Yaoundé Film Lab in April 2022, where she won a writing grant funded by Special Touch Studios. In November 2023, it was also selected for the Red Sea Souk Project Market as part of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which Emmanuella attended.
From her childhood, Emmanuella has been passionate about literature and enjoys writing stories. In 2020, the Alliance Française of Bangui offered a cinema career training program in collaboration with CinéFabrique (a film school in Lyon, France). Emmanuella was selected among hundreds of candidates and attended the screenplay section of the program from 2021 to 2022, with instructors including Boris Lojkine, Naël Marandin, and Joël Karekezi.
During this training, Emmanuella wrote and directed her first short film, "Pas avant le Bac," which tells the story of a young man who refuses to make love with his girlfriend until she graduates from high school, causing confusion and rejection from his surroundings. A few months later, she wrote a second short film, which was directed by her friend Jaëlla Pathé, whom she assisted in directing: "Ta Wali," focuses on a young woman who, to break free from her husband's financial control, decides to become a motorcycle taxi driver, a profession usually reserved for men.
"Pas avant le Bac" won the Bantou award at the "Bangui fait son cinéma" festival in the Central African Republic in November 2022. It was selected for the "Les Terranga" festival in Senegal in April 2023 and for the Panorama program of the "Côté Court" festival in Pantin, France, in June 2023.
"Ta Wali" was selected for competition at the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa in the short film category in July 2023.
Since completing the CinéBangui program, Emmanuella has continued to write. As of March 2024, she's working on her second short film, "Ndèko," with Eyes Production in the Central African Republic and Tchik Tchik Productions in France. It tells the story of a thwarted love affair between a 27-year-old woman and the priest of her parish. She plans to direct this movie in 2024.
In parallel, Emmanuella is developing her first feature film, "Voundou," with Makongo Films. This project was presented at the Yaoundé Film Lab in April 2022, where she won a writing grant funded by Special Touch Studios. In November 2023, it was also selected for the Red Sea Souk Project Market as part of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which Emmanuella attended.