​Marc-Henri Wajnberg, born in Brussels, studied cinema at INSAS, the National Superior Institute of Performing Arts and Broadcasting Techniques.

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Rich in ideas and new concepts, he has multiplied his audiovisual creations, notably with Clapman, a series of 1200 8-second shorts which were broadcast daily in over 50 countries.

 

In 1993, he directed his first feature-length film, Just Friends, which plunges us into the world of jazz music in Antwerp in 1959, through the eyes of a talented saxophonist dreaming of a career in New York. Just Friends won critical acclaim for its aesthetic research and the performance of its cast (Josse de Pauw, Sylvia Milhaud, Ann Gisel Glass, Charles Berling).

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In 1996, he directed the short film Le Réveil, which won the Rail d'Or at Cannes, and features a masterful Jean-Claude Dreyfus waking up every morning with a thousand ingenious mechanisms.

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His curiosity and interest in art and history also led him to devote himself to making creative documentaries, such as Evgueni Khaldei, photographer under Stalin in 1997, in which he set out to meet this moving war photographer. In 2001, he directed Oscar Niemeyer, an architect committed to his century, an account of the 20th century's most prolific architect.

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During the 2000s, Marc-Henri Wajnberg developed a number of projects. He conceived and produced a series of 33 documentaries for Arte, Kaleidoscope, looking at life frames, for which he directed four episodes. In each issue, Kaleidoscope - the guide - chooses a singular living space, public or private, in Europe or elsewhere, and presents it in a succession of fragmented views.

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He collaborated on the development and co-produced The Five Obstructions, a feature-length documentary by Lars von Trier and Joergen Leth. A research film in which the two men's preconceived ideas and opinions are continually challenged.

 

In 2009, Marc-Henri Wajnberg produced The Earth, Of Men, a collection of 5 documentaries shot in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As part of the 50th anniversary of African independence, he produced Portrait de Kinshasa for the Arte web documentary series.

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From this encounter with Kinshasa and its inhabitants, Marc-Henri Wajnberg created his second feature film, Kinshasa Kids. A blend of fiction and documentary, it tells the story of 8 street children in search of a better life in bustling Kinshasa. Invited to more than 60 festivals (Venice, Toronto, Pusan, New York, etc.), Kinshasa Kids received 8 international awards, including the Human Rights Prize in Strasbourg and the Magritte for best editing.

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He continues his work to raise awareness of children's rights by making an interactive virtual reality film with street children in Kinshasa: Kinshasa Now. The film was selected in the VR Expanded competition at the 77th Venice Film Festival, as well as at the Festival dei Popoli and the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival. As he has done previously, he is involved in the education and rehabilitation of the street children who play in his films.

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After various film production experiences in Kinshasa, including documentaries, web films, concert recordings, CD productions, and virtual reality films, Marc-Henri Wajnberg produced in 2021 the feature-length documentary I am Chance, capturing the turbulent lives of a group of young girls living on the streets of Kinshasa.