Idrissou Mora-Kpaï

Idrissou Mora-Kpai (born 14 July 1967), is a Beninese-American filmmaker. He is most notable as the director of critically acclaimed films Indochina Traces of a Mother, Arlit The Second Paris, and Si-Gueriki The Queen Mother. He is a recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and the Dutch Prince Claus Award

Personal life He was born on 14 July 1967 in Béroubouay, Northern Benin to a family of commercial cattle farmers. His father was Mora-Kpai Sounon Dangnon and mother was Bougnon Yarou Signangui. As of 2024 Mora-Kpai accepted an associate professorship at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.

Career At the age of 13, he moved to Cotonou and attended high school. At the age of 19, he went to Algeria and then emigrated via Italy to Germany. Then he studied North American studies at the Free University of Berlin from 1988 to 1993. After the graduation, he studied film production at the Konrad Wolf Film University from 1994 to 1999. During this university period, he made several two short films, Transient and Fake Soldiers. in 2002. The film received critical acclaim and international attention. It was screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), Cinema du Réel, Paris and the Copenhagen International Film Festival (CIFF). The film later awarded Best Documentary Award at the Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur. was screened at The Berlin International Film Festival at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival and was subsequently awarded, among others, the Best Documentary Award and the TV5 Award at the Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur, the best documentary award at the Asian and Latin American Film Festival, Milan, the best documentary award at the Muestra de Cine Africano de Tarifa. His film Indochina Traces of a Mother produced with the same company, was screened at the Busan International Film Festival, at the Cannes International Film Festival, French Institute Screening. The film attracted the media’s attention due to exposing a hitherto little know piece of history about African Soldiers fighting for in the French Indochina war. Indochina was awarded the best documentary award at the Alger International Film Festival .

In 2019, he made the documentary film America Street. It explores the daily struggles of an African-American community in Charleston, South Carolina after the 2015 Walter Scott killing. The film received critical acclaim and was screened at several film festivals, including FID Marseille.

In 2026, he completed another documentary, Border Life, which screened at the Dakhla International Film Festival in Morocco in June of that year. He also directed the short narrative film The Waiting Room, which is currently in post-production.

Filmography Year Film Role Genre Ref. 1996 Transient Director, producer, writer, editor Short film 1999 Fake Soldiers Director, writer Short film 2002 Si-Gueriki, la reine-mère Director Documentary 2005 Arlit: The Second Paris Director, producer, writer Documentary 2011 Indochina Traces of a Mother Director, producer Documentary 2019 America Street Director, producer, cinematographer Documentary 2026 Border Life Director, producer, cinematographer Documentary