Matamba Kombila

After leaving the Gabon of her childhood, Matamba Kombila worked in the world of luxury and fashion as a producer and artistic director in New York for over 15 years. In 2008, Matamba radically changed her world and decided to become a filmmaker. She took her first steps in the film industry in 2009, on the set of Night Catches Us in Philadelphia. With this professional change came a change of territory. Matamba now lives in Libreville, Gabon. This return to the African continent led to the creation of her production company, Dougantsi Films, in 2016. She’s been making films since 2014, several of which have won awards. Her first film, the experimental short A walk in Purpose (2014) screened at various festivals and exhibitions. Matamba produced the short film Farewell Meu Amor by director Ekwa Msangi and the feature Matris by Fernand Lepoko in 2016; as well as Aping the Beast by Yael Zeevi in 2018 and Gorillas of Gabon by Richard Slater Jones in 2019. Her documentaries, Mundele (2019) and influenceu.ses.rs(2021), finished the festival circuit. In 2021, she created the stage show Emo, Le parc Sacré, a contemporary Mvett tale. Sens Dessus Dessous (2018), her web/TV impact mini-series is currently in distribution. Her latest work, Where did the Dream Go?, is in post-production. Since 2019, she has been teaching various aspects of filmmaking in public and private institutions. Through visual storytelling, she explores bringing together the old and the new, sketching out new African identities and imaginaries.