Little filmmaker Souleymane Cisse, ‘Father of the African Cinema’, dies at the age of 84 | Cinema news
Trailblazer African cinema was the winner of the jury award at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.
Mali’s very recognized director Souleymanne Cissa, considered to be one of the pillars African cinemasHe died at the age of 84.
His daughter announced that Cisse died on Wednesday, leaving a legacy on a silver screen that lasted half a century, which was marked by the devotion to African storytelling, deep humanism and deep political engagement.
“Daddy died in Bamak today. We are all in shock. He has dedicated his whole life to his country, China and art,” Mariam Cisse said.
Cisse won the jury award at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival for “Yeelen” (“Brightness”), which relies on legends from Bambara people in West Africa.
In 2023, Cannes again honored Carrosse d’Or, a prize awarded to directors who “marked the history of cinemas with their courage, their demanding standards and their unwavering in insination.”
That award was stolen from his house in 2024, before being found again.
❤️ The memory of SouleyMane Cissé (1940-2025), one of the greats of cinema known for the catapuling of an African film on the world stage with its game games, which won the Great Jury Award in Cannes in 1987 and became the first African film awarded at the Festival . pic.twitter.com/jypzt0vdn3
– movie at Lincoln Center (@filmlinc) 19. February 2025
Associate of Mali’s director Boubacar Sidibe said in a message on Facebook that the Sahel Country film industry was in “mourning”, while Culture Minister Mamou Daffe complained of the loss of “this monument of the African cinema”.
The movie in the non -profit organization of Lincoln Center also praised Cisse as “One of the Greats of the Cinema”, citing his work, Yelen, for “catapuling an African film on the world stage”.
‘If God wants’
Cisse is one of two filmmakers who have twice won the top prize at the Panafrican Burkin Faso (Fespaco) film and television festival, among the largest and most prestigious Africa.
On Thursday, he was supposed to board a plane to Burkina Faso Capital’s Ouagadougou to run the 29th edition of the Festival Jury of February 2nd.
SouleyMane Cissé (April 21, 1940 to 19 February 2025). At 84 and as one of the last living pioneers of the African cinema, his presence was an invaluable connection to the cultural history of the continent.
Truly to honor Cissé’s legacy means to understand his body of work as … pic.twitter.com/4xxyuqatma
– Choro – African cinema now! (@Akorokoafica) 19. February 2025
In his interview in Cannes in 2023, with the AFP news agency, he criticized “censorship” and “contempt”, which he said to prevent African films around the world.
Even on the day of his death, he invited military leaders in Mali – who declared the cultural year in 2025 – to help the country industry capture his continental rivals.
“It is not enough to make a cinema; the works must also be visible. Some authorities help us to build a cinema,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday morning. “This is an appeal I make them before my death, if God wants it.”
