Med Hondo

• Born: 1936
• Occupation: Director, Writer, Actor
• Active: '60s, '80s-2000s
• Major Genres: Historical Film, Thriller
• Career Highlights: Lumière Noire, Watani, un monde sans mal, Camera d' Afrique: 20 Years of African Cinema
• First Major Screen Credit: Soleil O (1967)

Biography

Filmmaker Hondo Med, originally from former Arab country Mauritania, began his cinematic career as an actor in Paris in the mid '60s. There he founded the performance group Shango. The script for his first feature film, Soleil O, a gritty examination of the experience of immigrant workers in France, was written in 1965, but the film wasn't actually made until 1969 with a miniscule budget and the help of a few acting friends. The film, selected for the Cannes Festival's Critic's Week, was considered controversial for its negative portrayal of the treatment of immigrants, and French diplomats requested that the film be banned in several African countries. This did not prevent Med from making politically charged features and documentaries many of which were highly critical of imperialist attitudes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide