Elvis Sabin NgaÏbino

Elvis Sabin Ngaïbino, a geologist by training, has a deep passion for cinema. In 2012, he co-founded the Central African Cinema Academy with friends, an association dedicated to uniting fellow film enthusiasts. Using limited resources, he has produced and directed several short films for Central African television.

In 2017, he was selected to participate in the inaugural Varan directing workshop held in Bangui. During this workshop, he created the short documentary Docta Jefferson, which profiles a local pharmacist and has been featured in several international festivals. He furthered his training with the Varan Workshops from 2018 to 2019, culminating in his first feature documentary, Makongo. This film has been showcased at numerous festivals, including Bafici in Buenos Aires, the Hamburg Film Festival, Cinéma du Réel, and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

Building on the success of Makongo, he established Makongo Films in Bangui in 2019 with former mentors and partners, Daniele Incalcaterra and Boris Lojkine. This marked the inception of the first film production company in the Central African Republic.

In 2023, he directed Le fardeau, which was selected as one of six films for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). The film was also chosen for the Cinéma du Réel festival in 2024.