In a three part series, we present selected profiles of African Filmmakers and Directors, some of whom, like Ousmane Sembene, are now legends. A number of these filmmakers and directors, successfully taking their destiny into their own hands, rather than go to film school, got a camera and started making films.
Our selected filmmakers and directors, using their mastery of filmmaking and directing beyond the confines of the industry, have used the camera to make compelling films, ingeniously leaving a lasting impact on society, and contributing immensely to the growth of the film industry in their respected countries, the continent and world.
Categorically, these filmmakers and directors have changed the world through films.
Ousmane Sembène is a Senegalese film director, producer and writer, and the first African film director to gain international recognition. In 1963, Sembène produced his first short film Barom Sarret (The Wagoner); but, it was not until his 1966 quasi-documentary film Niya (Black Girl), the first known feature film released by an African film director from Sub-Sahara and a recipient of the prestigious Jean Vigo prize, that got African films and Sembène wide international recognition. Since, Sembène has produced, written and directed several African films. However, it was after 1975 that he started producing in his native Wolof, films like Xala (1975) and Ceddo (1977), both of which were entered into the 9th Moscow International Film Festival. His final film Moolaade (2004) won awards at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and the FESPACO Film Festival in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Sembène has deservingly been described as “father of African films”. He died at the age of 84.
Souleymane Cissé is a Malian film director and writer. Recipient of an Honorary Award at the 7th Montréal International Black Film Festival, Cissé produced his first full-length film in 1974. His 1978 film Baara (Work) received the Yenenga’s Talon prize at FESPACO (1979). Since, Cissé has produced various films that tell Malian stories in the Bambara language. He has competed in film festivals and received high praise, including the Jury Prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival for Yeelen (Light), a film about coming-of-age. Cissé is the first African to win a prize at the Cannes.
Christiane Chabi Kao is a film director and producer from Benin; she is also the president of Festival Langunimages. Her feature film Les Inseparables (2007) won the Africa Numérique award at Vues d’Afrique in Montréal, as well as the Human Rights Special Prize at FESPACO. Her recent work is a series entitled Les Chenapans.
M.K. Asante, Jr. is a film director and best selling author born in Zimbabwe and raised in Philadelphia. Asante has been hailed by CNN as “a master storyteller and major creative force”. He is the writer and producer of the film 500 Years Later (2005), winner of five international film festival awards. Asante is a Sundance feature Film Fellow for the movie adaptation of this memoir Buck.
Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina is an Algerian film director, producer and screenwriter, and one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Arabic cinema. He is known for Chronicale of the Smoldering Years (1975), The Winds of the Aures (1967) and Sandstorm (1982).
Soraya Mire is an award winning screenwriter, director, producer, actress and activist from Somalia. She produced her first full documentary Fire Eyes in 1994, a film that highlights the practice of Female Genital Mutilation. As a survivor of FGM, she has come to be known as a global speaker against the practice of FGM and an advocate for human rights.
Haile Girima is an Ethiopian born film director and writer who lives and works in the United States. He best known for his 1993 film Sankofa that received first prize award at the African Film Festival in Milan, Italy; Best Cinematography at Africa’s premier Festival of Pan African Countries (FESPACO); and a nomination for the Golden Bear at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival. Girima’s most recent film Teza (2008) won top award at the 2009 Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Abderrehman Sissako is a Mauritanian film director and producer working in Mali and France. Acclaimed for his 2002 film Waiting for Happiness, it was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival official selection under Un Certain Regard, winning the FIPRESCI Prize. Sissako’s film Bamako, released in 2007, received high compliments; additionally, his 2014 film Timbuktu, was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Flora Gomes is a film director and writer from Guinea-Bissau; also, considered an important figure in post-colonial African cinema. Gomes completed his high school schooling in Cuba, after which, he enrolled at the Instituto Cubano del Arte y la Industria Cinematográficos in Havana. His 1988 feature film Mortu Nega (Death Denied), produced in Creole, was the first fiction film and the second feature film in Guniea-Bissau. Mortu Nega won the prestigious Oumarou Ganda Prize at the 1989 FESPACO. Gomes is known for directing My Voice (2002), Udju Azul di Yonta (1992), and Mortu Nega (1990).
Judy Kibinge is a Kenyan born writer, filmmaker and director, and co-founder and creative director at Seven Productions Ltd. Though Kibinge has won numerous awards for her short stories, she is known for her film Dangerous Affair that won first prize at the 2003 Zanzibar International Film Festival and her 2008 film Killer Necklace, which she won Best Kenyan Director award for.