title: Jean-Michel Tchissoukou
text: # Jean-Michel Tchissoukou
  
  Jean-Michel Tchissoukou (1942-1997) was a Congolese filmmaker.
  
  ## Life
  
  Jean-Michel Tchissoukou was born 1942 in Pointe-Noire. He studied filmmaking in Paris at the Institut national de l'audiovisuel and at Ocora. On his return to the Congo, he spent a decade working for the national television channel. His first film, Illusions (1970) was a medium-length feature about a peasant who comes to live in the city with his parents. Tchissoukou was also assistant to Sarah Maldoror on Sambizanga (1972).
  
  Tchissoukou's first feature film, The Chapel, won a 1981 FESPACO award. His second feature film, The Wrestlers, examined Congolese identity using a mix of fiction and documentary.
  
  Tchissoukou died in Brazzaville in 1997.
  
  ## Films
  
  * Illusions, 1970.
  * La Chapelle / The Chapel, 1979.
  * Les Lutteurs / M'Pongo / The Wrestlers, 1982.
  