JOURNAL

Journal Weibá is a collection of photos of scenes of life from Douala and Yaoundé dating from 1910 to 1990, archive videos, details about indigenous spirituality and ethnicity, as well as period films by Cameroonian filmmakers.

Muna Moto, 1975 by Jean-Pierre Dikongue Pipa

Ngando, a young villager, loves Ndomé to whom he is engaged. Marriage is impossible because he cannot reunite the dowry.
He solicits his rich uncle but he covets Ndomé to make her his fourth wife because none has given him a child.

Duration: 1h40min
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Badiaga: The Life of Betti Betti, 1986 by Jean-Pierre Dikongue Pipa

A drama inspired by the tragic life of the famous Cameroonian singer Beti Beti (Béatrice Kempeni), who interprets her own role at the end of the film. Badiaga, a three-year-old girl, is abandoned in a market by her mother. A deaf-mouth takes her in and educates her. A very strong bond grows between them. Growing up, she dreams of becoming a famous singer.
She is fascinated by the different stars of Yaoundé cafes. She sells small objects and collects records to survive.
One day, she had the chance to perform a song from her childhood on the radio, which immediately became a national hit.
Then the concerts follow one another, the crowd adores him. However, she refuses any sentimental ties and is desperately looking for a family.
A young admirer is undeterred, curiously, he wears the same scarifications on his face as her.

Duration: 1h40min
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The price of freedom, 1978 by Jean-Pierre Dikongué Pipa

After refusing the sexual advances of her village chief and defying her father's authority, a young woman runs away from home and goes to town. There she meets several members of her family and tries to start a new life. She enters high school, makes friends. But she realizes that social relations in town also depend on sexual favors and that all her friends have resigned themselves to this practice. When she loses the only man she ever loved, she returns to her village and, in a fit of rage, sets it on fire.

Duration: 1h35min
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Douala postcard, 1925

Source: IDPAO - Cameroon

Quay of Douala, Cameroon. 1948

Source: Fond archives Burtsch/F.Lechevallier (1900/1950)

Manufacture of a wooden canoe, 1940

The canoe is an essential element for the movement of the peoples of the south-west coast of Cameroon, it makes it easier to reach and link the ethnic groups living on the islands of the Wouri River, access to which is only possible by crossing this river.

Its original name is "Mundja Mw'Ewodi", which means Ewodi River. Ewodi is also one of the largest villages that hosts the river. It was not until the 19th century, during the German colonial period, that it was renamed Wouri River.

Source: Fond archives Burtsch/F.Lechevallier (1900/1950)