Mali

Souleymane Cissé is one of Africa's most admired and respected filmmakers. Born in Bamako, Mali in 1940, Cissé went to high school in Dakar, Senegal. He began his film career as a film projectionist and was moved to begin creating his own films during a screening of a documentary film about Patrice Lumumba's arrest. He obtained a scholarship to the VGIK in Moscow. He then returned to Mali and joined the Ministry of Information as a cameraman, where he produced documentaries and short films. In 1975 he shot Den Muso (The Young Girl), the first full length Malian feature in the Bambara language. It was immediately banned by the government, and Cissé was arrested and jailed for having accepted French funding. His next feature, Baara (Work), was produced in 1977 and won the Etalon de Yennega at FESPACO in 1978, and Finye (The Wind) produced in 1982, won the Tanit d’Or at Carthage Film Festival in 1982 and the Etalon de Yennega in 1983. His 1993 masterpiece, Yeelen (Brightness) won the Prix du Jury in Cannes in 1987. His film Waati (Time) competed for the Cannes Palme d'Or in 1995. Cissé is Founding President of the Union of West African Cinema and Audiovisual Designers and Entrepreneurs and devotes his energy to developing an economically viable African audiovisual industry. He is also on the board of Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation, dedicated to preserving and restoring classic films from around the world.

Filmography

L’Aspirant (1968)
Source d’inspiration (1968)
Dégal at Dialloubé (1970)
The Sanké Celebration (1971)
Five Days in a Life (1982)
Den Muso / The Young Girl (1975)
L’Homme et ses idoles (1975)
Baara / Work (1977)
Traditional Singers of the Seychelles (1978)
Finye / The Wind (1982)
Yeelen / Brightness (1987)
Waati / Time (1995)
Tell Me Who You Are (2009)
O Sembene! (2012)
O Ka / Our House (2015)