‘Muna Moto - Jean-Pierre Dikongué Pipa’

In a Cameroon village, strict customs surrounding engagement and marriage mean that an engaged couple, although deeply in love, can be torn apart. The lack of a dowry or another man claiming the young woman are possible causes. An example of a rift that marks the beginning of the clash between a patriarchal society and a modern generation. 

Film director and playwriter Jean-Pierre Dikongué-Pipa (1940) was born in Douala, Cameroon. He studied at the Cinema Conservatory in Paris and became a filmmaker through theatre. His films deal with the relationships between elements of traditional Cameroonian culture and the wider world. Muna Moto is one of the earliest feature films produced in Cameroon and the director was in some ways constrained by censorship under the Ahmadou Ahidjo regime. The film was restored in 2019 as part of the African Film Heritage Project.