Idrissa Oouédraogo was born in 1954 in BANFORA in Burkina Faso.
He holds a Diploma in General Studies from the African Institute of Film in Ouagadougou. He lived for a while in Kiev in the USSR. He holds the Diploma of profound studies, option cinema from Paris I Sorbonne. He worked in the Department of Cinematographic Production in Burkina Faso in 1981. He graduated from the High Institute of Cinema (IDHEC) in Paris in 1985.
He directed several short documentaries before starting his career in long features. We find in his work the perfect balance between the documentary genuineness and the fiction. He won the Grand Prize of FESPACO for his first short film “Poko”. A lot of films came after such as “The Platters” (1983), “Lara Naba Funeral”(1984), “Ouagadougou, Ouaga two wheels” (1985), “Issa the weaver”(1985). His first feature film “The Choice” was released in 1986. Then “Grandmother” (1988) won the Critic Prize at Cannes International Film Festival in 1989, “The law” won the Jury Grand Prize at Cannes International Film Festival in 1990 and the FESPACO Grand Prize in 1991, “Karim and Sala”(1991), “Samba Traore”(1992), “The Heart’s scream” (1994), “Kini and Adams”(1997), “The Gods Anger”(2003). He participated in the collective film made on the 11-09-2001 terrorist attack in New York.
Ouedraogao made several television series for African televisions. He directed for La Comédie Française “The Tragedy of King Christophe” by Aime Cesaire.
He served as juror in a lot of international festivals such as Venise, Tokyo, Amiens, and the Museum of Man in Paris.
He has lectured in several universities around the world such as Ouagadougou University in Burkina Faso, Harvard University and New York University in USA, Nanterre University and Museum of Man in France.
He is a Commander of the National Order of Burkina Faso and honored the Chevalier in the Order of Arts and letters from France.
