Thérèse Sita-Bella

Thérèse Sita-Bella (1933-2006), born Thérèse Bella Mbida, was a Cameroonian filmmaker and pilot, and Cameroon's first female journalist.

She was born into the Beti tribe in southern Cameroon, and received her education from Catholic missionaries. In the 1950s, after obtaining her baccalaureate from a school in the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé, she went to Paris in order to continue her studies. It was in France that her interest in journalism and in film developed. She returned to Cameroon at the beginning of the 1960s.

In 1963, she created the documentary "Tam-Tam à Paris" which followed a troupe from the National Dance Company of Cameroon during a tour of Paris [Pallister 15.] . It is frequently cited as being the first film by a woman from sub-Saharan Africa. [ [http://www.africa-in-motion.org.uk/lostclassics.html Africa in Motion: Lost African Classics ] ] In 1969, "Tam Tam à Paris" featured at the first Week of African Cinema, a festival which was later to become known as FESPACO.

A feminist who blazed a trail for many other Cameroonian and African women of her generation, she was considered an oddity by the male-dominated system she both defied and worked to become a part of. She once stated:

"Camerawomen in the 1970’s? At that time we were very few. There were few West Indians, a woman from Senegal called Safi Faye and I. But you know cinema is not a woman's business". [ [http://www.dibussi.com/2006/03/sita_bell_the_f.html Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den: Sita Bella: The Final Journey of a Renaissance Woman ] ]

Sita-Bella died on 27 February, 2006, following her admission to hospital. She had been suffering from cancer of the colon, and her death was caused by complications of an operation which had hoped to remove the tumour. [ [http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/mar-2006/2/latest.php The Nation ] ] Sita-Bella was buried at the Mvolye cemetery in Yaounde.

Notes

References

* DeLancey, Mark W., and Mark Dike DeLancey (2000): "Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon" (3rd ed.). Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press.
*Pallister, Janis L. (1997). "French-Speaking Women Film Directors: A Guide". Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.