Proud and determined, the hunter set out, leaving behind his village ravaged by a terrible drought. All the villagers came out to wish him well, and everyone gave what he could: an egg, a handful of peanuts or a few kola nuts... As in the folktale, Sobgui, a former computer programmer who now drives a "clando" cab in Douala, flees to Europe to escape a life in Cameroon which has become unbearable. In Cologne (Germany), Sobgui joins a community of African emigrants. Most are hard-working and ambitious people. Sobgui begins a love affair with Madeleine, a German political activist who encourages Sobgui and his friends to return home and fight for change.

Proud and determined, the hunter set out, leaving behind his village ravaged by a terrible drought. All the villagers came out to wish him well, and everyone gave what he could: an egg, a handful of peanuts or a few kola nuts... As in the folktale, Sobgui, a former computer programmer who now drives a "clando" cab in Douala, flees to Europe to escape a life in Cameroon which has become unbearable. In Cologne (Germany), Sobgui joins a community of African emigrants. Most are hard-working and ambitious people. Sobgui begins a love affair with Madeleine, a German political activist who encourages Sobgui and his friends to return home and fight for change.

Reflecting on the perpetuation of history's traumas, Jean-Marie Teno's latest film continues his ongoing project of documenting the impact of colonial and postcolonial politics on the lives of the people in his native Cameroon. Leaf in the Wind is both a reclaiming of forgotten chapters of Cameroonian history and a foray into the personal stories and broken lives behind the history.

This documentary of repressive political realities in Cameroon begins with the 1990 publication of an open letter to President Biya calling for a national conference - and the immediate arrest of the letter's author and publisher. The narration then examines the nation's colonial history, beginning with the first German missionary in 1901, the establishment of schools, French occupation following World War I, the paucity of books written by and published by Cameroonians, and the repression of the CPU, a leftist organization of the 1950s and 1960s. Cameroon and its people are the lark, its feathers plucked first by colonialism and then by native strongmen: 'Alouette, je te plumerai.'

In his film 'La tête dans les nuages' ('Head in the Clouds') Jean-Marie Teno criticizes the ills of the modern world and the regression of African societies. This short documentary shows the capital of the Cameroon, Yaondé, but might equally show other African cities: heaps of rubbish lie at the edge of streets, academics are out of work, officials unpaid, corruption is the norm, and misery everywhere. For Jean-Marie Teno 'colonization, civilization, independence, then humanitarian talk are merely excuses and theatrical gestures to ensure that Africa remains the place which foreign powers can exploit with a good conscience.'

Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Marie Téno profiles a poor but lively neighborhood in the capital of Burkina Faso, where a cine club proprietor tries to include Burkinabe films among the action and Bollywood fare.

In The Colonial Misunderstanding Jean-Marie Teno sheds light on the complex and problematic relationship between colonization and European missionaries on the African continent. The film looks at Christian evangelism as the forerunner of European colonialism in Africa, indeed, as the ideological model for the relationship between North and South even today.

Chronicle of a rather particular afternoon during which the lives of three people change dramatically: Alex, the husband, goes to his in-laws' to bring home his second wife. Elise, Alex's childhood sweetheart and first wife, accompanies him--as she must, according to tradition. And Josephine, the young bride, leaves her parents to begin a new life.

Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno directs this impassioned documentary about the slow crumbling of traditional morals and values caused by colonialism and globalization. The film traces Teno's journey from his base in France to Cameroon's capital Yaounde to his hometown of Mbieng. In the process, he captures images of corroding infrastructures and corrupt officials.

In The Colonial Misunderstanding Jean-Marie Teno sheds light on the complex and problematic relationship between colonization and European missionaries on the African continent. The film looks at Christian evangelism as the forerunner of European colonialism in Africa, indeed, as the ideological model for the relationship between North and South even today.