César Paes

Born in 1955 in Campos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, César Paes worked in France as a documentary director and director of photography before co-founding Laterit Productions in Paris in 1988 with his wife Marie-Clémence Andriamonta Paes. His cinematography is defined by attentiveness to natural light — the quality of highland mist, the texture of rural landscape. Together they co-directed Angano...Angano... (1989), capturing traditional Malagasy storytellers, and the film won awards at major international documentary festivals. In 2005 he co-directed Mahaleo with Raymond Rajaonarivelo — a documentary portrait of Madagascar's most beloved music group — for which he also served as director of photography. His engagement with Madagascar is rooted in long-term relationship with the country's people and culture.