Kilizou Blaise Abalo

Born in 1947 in Kanianboua, Togo, Abalo Blaise Kilizou discovered the seventh art at the age of nine through Hindi movies and Kpèlèbé cinema. Such was his excitement that he swore he would become a film director when he grew up. And if he did study film making he also graduated in law and psychology. Which explains his professional versatility: Kilizou indeed taught (from 1978 to 1981 at the University of Ouagadougou), was a collaborator with the African Institute for Film Education (also in Burkina Faso), practiced as an educational psychologist and, of course, satisfied his passion by directing movies. In this latter field, he started his cinematic career in 1976 with a documentary ("10 ans de pouvoir du Président Eyama") and pursued it until 2009 ("Venu de France"). His most accomplished work, "Kawilasi", also happens to be the first Togolese feature length fiction ever. This story of a young woman accused of murdering her fiancé earned its writer-director the Special Prize of Sustainable Human Development at the 1995 FESPACO Film Festival. Abalo Blaise Kilizou unfortunately contracted cancer and died on 16th October 2013.