Gaston Kaboré (born 1951) is a Burkinabé film director and an important figure in Burkina Faso's film industry.^[1] He has won awards for his films Wend Kuuni and Buud Yam. He is the founder of Imagine Institute, a school he opened in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 2003, that provides workshops and residencies for film and television professionals.

Kaboré was born in 1951 in Bobo-Dioulasso in Upper Volta.^[2]

He studied history at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, receiving his license and Maîtrise (Master's) degrees.^[2] While researching the history of racial prejudice against Africa by its colonisers for his Maîtrise, Kaboré was drawn to contemporary documentary films which, he felt, continued to propagate such stereotypes.^[2] To better understand the "language of cinema", he decided to go to ESEC film school. Originally intending to use film as a medium for disseminating historical knowledge, he gradually grew passionate about film for its own sake. He received his degree in Film Production in 1976.^[2] He returned to his native country to be director of the Centre National du Cinéma. His film Wend Kuuni was only the second feature film produced in Burkina Faso.^[1] His work for the screen, focusing on his country's rural heritage, has received numerous international awards, including a French César award.

In 1997 he won the first prize at the 15th Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) with the film Buud Yam.^[2]

From 1985 to 1997 he was the Secretary-General of the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI).^[3] In 2003 he opened Imagine Institute, a school in Ouagadougou that provides training for television and film professionals.^[1][3] Kabore created the school to address the lack of African training schools ^[1]and in the belief that “cinema is able to play a fundamental role of the restoration of [African] self-confidence, self-esteem.” ^[4]

• Wend Kuuni (1983)
• Zan Boko (1988)
• Rabi (1992)
• Lumière and Company (1995)
• Buud Yam (1997)