personne | France

Valérie Kanza

Ecrivain, Réalisateur

In production:
- "Belliard 220" ©2008. Feature length

In development:
- "When the Clouds were Thirsty"©2009. Feature length

Documentary films:
- "White Pages. Final draft", documentary, 22', New York, 2009.
1st screening at the Short Film Corner, Cannes Film Festival 2009
- "Présence d'esprits", documentary, 33', Paris, 2008

"Docu©Rencontres" a series of shorts in direct cinema:
- "Kinshasa - Buenos Aires", Argentine, 2009
- "A Walk in NY Streets", United States, 2008
- "The Bench", United States, 2008
- "Un Arbre sur le Toit", RDCongo, 2008
- "Feux de Savane", RDCongo, 2008
- "Réunion", RDCongo, 2008
- "La Maison des Poules", RDCongo, 2008
- "L'Usine de Manioc", RDCongo, 2008
- "Sur le Chemin de l'Ecole", RDCongo, 2008
- "Liège Backstage", Belgique, (en post-prod)
- "Un Dimanche en Avignon", France, (en post-prod)

Screenwriter:
- "Paradoxes de l'Assassin", short fiction film, 8', directed by Daniel Cattier.

Publications:
- "Congo, Journal interdit", Valérie Kanza, Essai in "Congo-Meuse", Vol. 8, éditions AML, Bruxelles, 2008
- "Sans Rancune", Valérie Kanza, co-auteur, adaptation pour l'édition d'une version augmentée inédite du roman de Thomas Kanza, Ed. L'Harmattan, Paris, 2006.
- "220 Rue Belliard, Carrefour des Mémoires, Lieu d'Histoire", reportage, auteur Valérie Kanza, graphisme Roch Tran, octobre 2005

Valerie Kanza was raised between Europe and Africa before continuing her education in France. She started her career in 1987 in Paris and became one of the cofounding partners of a consultancy firm. In 1994, she joined the European Commission in Brussels and worked for the Information, Communication, Audiovisual & Culture General Directorate until 1998 when she joined the European Parliament.
Parallel to her professional activities, she conducted documentary and historical researches on European and African history in the turn of the 40s to the 60s. She interviewed many witnesses and started thinking about filmmaking as a means to share their stories. When she realized their progressive disappearance, she resigned from her post in 2008 in order to study documentary and fiction filmmaking in France and in the United States.