Med Hondo (born Mohamed Abid; 4 May 1935 – 2 March 2019) was a Mauritanian-born French director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.

Considered a founding father of African cinema, he is known for his controversial films dealing with issues such as race relations and colonization.

[5][7] He emigrated to France in 1959 and found work first in Marseille and then in Paris, variously as a cook, farm labourer, waiter, dockworker and delivery man.

[5][6] He found that he and other African immigrants were unable to gain work in their chosen professions, and in the menial jobs they could find, they were paid less than the French.

[7] The difficulty of making a living during this time, as well as the racism he experienced, eventually provided inspiration for Hondo's films, including Soleil O (1970) and Les Bicots-nègres, vos voisins (1974).

[16][17] Med Hondo explained on his website[18] that he met with Danny Glover in 1991 and presented his then-current project to him: a biopic of Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture.