Christian Lara (25 January 1939 – 9 September 2023) was a Guadeloupean film director and producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. Having shot more than twenty feature films in the Caribbean, France, Canada, and Africa, he is regarded by many as ''"the Father of French Antilles cinema"''.

Life and career

Lara began his professional career in Paris, France as a journalist for ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'', a French daily

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

. As of 1973, he turned film-maker, directing his first movie, ''Jeu de dames'' (en: ''Dames play''), starring Georges de Caunes. That same year, following a then Parisian trend for

erotic film Sexual content has been found in films since the early days of the industry, and the presentation of aspects of sexuality in film, especially human sexuality, has been controversial since the development of the medium. Films which display or sugges ...

s, Lara directed '' Les Infidèles'' (en: ''The unfaithfulls''), from a screenplay written by French

s director Daniel Daërt (born Jacques Godaert). The two men renewed their collaboration a year after, Lara working as

camera operator A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not necessarily imply that a male is performing the task. ...

on Daërt's ninth porn film, ''Cours du soir pour monsieur seul'' (en: ''Night classes for lonely men'').
Lara produced a more personal project with French actor

Jacques Weber Jacques Weber is a French actor, director, and writer. Life and career Weber joined the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique at the age of 20, and won the Prix d'Excellence when he left. He joined Robert Hossein in Rheims, and ...

and newcomer

Anne Parillaud Anne Parillaud (; born 6 May 1960) is a French actress who has been active since 1977, who is best known internationally for playing the title character in Luc Besson's film ''La Femme Nikita (film), La Femme Nikita''. Biography Parillaud was b ...

: ''Un Amour de sable'' (en: ''Sandy Love''), released in 1976. Aware of the lack of visibility of his fellow

Creole people Creole peoples may refer to various ethnic groups around the world. The term's meaning exhibits regional variations, often sparking debate. Creole peoples represent a diverse array of ethnicities, each possessing a distinct cultural identity tha ...

on French movie screens, Lara soon engaged in creating a truly

Antillean The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...

cinema. In this, he was following the advice legendary

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

once gave him, at the time of a three-month stay in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

: ''"Only film what you truly know!"''Testimony b
Christian Lara
at the time of the presentation of '' Coco la Fleur, candidate'' for the movies cycle ''«Images des Outre-mer»'' at the

Cinémathèque française A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...

, in Paris (December 2011). For the first feature of his series of ''Guadeloupean films'', Lara wrote a storyline set during election time in his home island, calling upon

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

an actors Greg Germain (at the time the new star of '' Médecins de nuit'', a French

medical drama A medical drama is a Television film, television movie or film in which events center upon a hospital, clinic, doctor's office, a paramedic, or any other medical topic or environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic progra ...

television series) and

Robert Liensol The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

(an experienced movie actor) to star in the film. Overcoming ambient scepticism and the many difficulties attached to its production, '' Coco la Fleur, candidate'' was released on 14 February 1979, and received acclaim both in continental France and its overseas dependencies. Several films followed, among them '' Mamito'', the portrayal of a grandmother caught in the social inadequacies of a former French overseas colony that became a full-fledged department of France. Released in 1980, the movie was already raising issues that would be brought up 30 years later during Guadeloupe's 2009 general strike. Lara was deliberately striving to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather,

Oruno Lara Oruno Lara (1879 – 1924) was a Guadeloupean poet, author and historian, not to be confused with his grandson Dr. Oruno D. Lara, also a historian. Head of Pointe-à-Pitre's ''Guadeloupe Littéraire'' journal, he arrived in France in 1914 with ho ...

(1879–1924), who was

's first

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

African descent Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ...

, in featuring the history of the Caribbean, as is apparent from Christian Lara's subsequent historical

feature films A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film ( motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

. First, in '' Vivre libre ou mourir'' (en: ''Live Free or Die Hard''), Oruno Lara is credited as original screenwriter. Secondly, Lara himself acknowledges his grandfather's heritage in 1998 when '' Sucre amer'' (en: ''Bittersweet'') is released; and again in 2004, when '' 1802, l'Épopée guadeloupéenne'' premiered in France on 10 May, the very day of the National Celebration of the

Abolition of Slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

. Several of his recent films, such as ''The Legend'' and ''Summer in Provence'' feature French actress Mi Kwan Lock in the leading roles. Lara died on 9 September 2023, at the age of 84.

Filmography as a director

Cinema

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

: ''Jeu de dames'' *

: '' Les Infidèles'' *

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

: ''Corps brûlants'' (as Bart Caral) *

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

: ''Un Amour de sable'' *

: ''Déchaînements charnels'' (''Make Love With Me'') *

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

: '' Coco la Fleur, candidate'' *

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

: '' Mamito'' * 1980: ''Chap'la'' * 1980: ''Vivre libre ou mourir'' * 1982: ''Une glace avec deux boules...'' * 1983: ''Adieu foulards'' * 1987: ''Black'' * 1993: ''Une Sacrée chabine'' *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

: '' Sucre Amer'' * 2004: ''1802, l'Épopée guadeloupéenne'' * 2004: ''Cracking Up'' * 2010: ''Héritage perdu'' * 2011: ''Tout est encore possible'' *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

: *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

: '' The Legend'' *

: ''Summer in Provence'' *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

: ''Esclave et courtisane'' *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

: ''L'homme au Bâton'' (released posthumously)

Television

* 2009: ''Le Mystère Joséphine''

Awards, nominations and distinctions

* 1999 – ''

FESPACO The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (, or FESPACO) is a film festival in Burkina Faso, held biennially in Ouagadougou, where the organization is based. It accepts for competition only films by African filmmakers and chief ...

's Paul Robeson African Diaspora best film award'' for '' Sucre Amer'', (

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

). List of FESPACO award winners#16th FESPACO (1999)

References

External links

*
Christian Lara
on ''Encyclociné'' .
Caraibe-Films Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lara, Christian 1939 births 2023 deaths French film directors Guadeloupean film directors Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres People from Pointe-à-Pitre