Biography

Welket Bungué is a Berlin-based actor, born in Guinea-Bissau in 1988. His cross-cultural education from Africa, Europe, and Brazil made him into a cross-national, multi-talented artist. He is co-founder of the production company KUSSA, holds a degree in Theater Acting (ESTC/Lisbon) and a postgraduate degree in Performance Art (UNIRIO/Brazil). In 2023 Welket was an ambassador for the Face to Face with German Films Campaign as a filmmaker and actor.

As an actor, Welket has been featured in over 40 films and series, including Marcelo Caetano's highly acclaimed coming-of-age drama Body Electric, Marcelo Gomes' historical drama Joaquim, and Laís Bodanzky's Pedro, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Welket starred alongside actors Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart in David Cronenberg's film Crimes of the Future, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022.

In 2020, Welket starred in Burhan Qurbani's new version of Berlin Alexanderplatz, where his performance earned him a "Silver Bear" nomination at the Berlin International Film Festival, a "Best Lead Actor" nomination at the LOLA Awards of the German Film Academy (equivalent to the OSCARS), and won the Aluminum Horse Award for "Best Actor" at the Stockholm International Film Festival.

In 2022, he took part of the International Jury of Ghent IFF, chaired by the British director Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant) amongst Daniel Hart (A Ghost Story, The Green Knight), Georgian director Alexandre Koberidze (What Do We See When We Look At The Sky), Nico Leunen (Ad Astra, Beautiful Boy, The Broken Circle Breakdown). He also took part of the International Jury of São Paulo IFF 2023, chaired by the Serbian director Emir Kusturica, amongst the Berlinale Artistic Director Mariëtte Rissenbeek, Lenny Abrahamson (Frank, Room, Normal People) and Enrica Fico Antonioni.

Welket is an artist featured by the Arsenal - Institute for Film and Video Art (Berlin), and since 2021 his films are part of the institution's collection. Welket's artistry is influenced by anti-colonial and Afrocentric perspectives, leveraging one's natural skills to inspire human growth and potential.

Welket's films have circulated internationally through numerous film festivals such as Berlinale, ABFF (USA), Africlap (France), Zanzibar IFF, Afrikamera (Berlin), BFI London and Sheffield DocFest (UK), IndieLisboa, DocLisboa, Curta Cinema IFF (RJ, Brazil), as well as the Stockholm Dansfilmfestival. Welket repertoire on filmmaking reunites more than 25 creations, including the short film titles Calling Cabral, Mudança, Jah Intervention, I am Not Pilatus, Arriaga, and Bastien.

In June 2022, Welket released his first book 'Corpo Periférico' on the Amazon platform, it's an autobiographical essay on auteur filmmaking based on the eponymous concept of "self-portraying cinema".

- IMDb mini biography by: Welket Bungué