- Souleymane Cissé
Souleymane Cissé (born
April 21 ,1940 inBamako ) is aMali anfilm director .Biography
Raised in a
Muslim family, Souleymane Cissé was a passionate cinephile from childhood. He attended secondary school inDakar , and returned to Mali in 1960 after national independence.His film career began as an assistant projectionist for a documentary on the arrest of
Patrice Lumumba . This triggered his desire to create films of his own, and he obtained a scholarship to theMoscow school of Cinema and Television.In 1970 he returned to Mali once more, and joined the Ministry of Information as a
cameraman , where he produced documentaries and short films.In 1972, he produced his first medium-length film, "Cinq jours d’une vie" ("Five Days in a Life"), which tells the story of a young man who drops out of a
Qur'an ic school and becomes a petty thief living on the street. "Cinq Jours" premiered at theCarthage Film Festival .In 1974, he produced his first full-length film in the
Bambara language , "Den muso" ("The Girl"), the story of a young mute girl who has beenrape d. The girl becomes pregnant, and is rejected both by her family and by the child's father. "Den Muso" was banned by the Malian Minister of Culture, and Cissé was arrested and jailed for having accepted French funding.In 1978, Cissé produced "Baara" ("Work"), whicih received the Yenenga's Talon prize at
Fespaco in 1979.In 1982, he produced "Finyé" ("Wind"), which tells the story of dissatisfied Malian youth rising up against the establishment. This earned him his second Yenenga's Talon, at 1983's Fespaco.
Between 1984 and 1987, he produced "
Yeelen " ("Light"),a coming-of-age film which won the 1987 Jury Prize at theCannes Film Festival .In 1995, he produced "Waati" ("Time").
Cissé is president of UCECAO, the Union of Creators and Entrepreneurs of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts of Western Africa.
Filmography
* "L’homme et ses idoles" (short film, 1975)
* "L’aspirant" (short film, 1968)
* "Source d’inspiration" (short film, 1968)
* "Dégal à Dialloubé" (1970)
* "Fête du Sanké" (1971)
* "Cinq jours d’une vie" (1972)
* "Den muso" (1975)
* "Baara" (1978)
* "Chanteurs traditionnels des Iles"Seychelles (1978)
* "Finye" (1982)
* "Yeelen" (1987)
* "Waati" (1995)External links
*imdb name|0162878
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