TEHRAN-Acclaimed Malian movie director Souleymane Ciss, among the pioneers of African movie theater, has passed away at 84.
One of the first generation of African filmmakers who is considered among the pillars of African cinema, he passed away on Wednesday in Bamako, Mali.Ciss took part in the 17th edition of Iran International Documentary Film Festival Cinma Vrit, which was held in December 2023 in Tehran, and held a session about the African movie market, Mehr reported.An acclaimed writer and director who ended up being the first African filmmaker to win the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, he has left a trailblazing legacy on the silver screen spanning half a century that was marked by a dedication to African storytelling, deep humanism, and profound political engagement.His film Yeelen (AKA Brightness) (1987) has actually been called conceivably the greatest African movie ever made.Born in Bamako and raised in a Muslim family, Ciss was an enthusiastic cinephile from childhood.
His film profession began as an assistant projectionist for a documentary on the arrest of Patrice Lumumba.
This activated his desire to develop movies of his own, and he got a scholarship at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, the Moscow School of Cinema and Television.In 1970 he returned to Mali and signed up with the Ministry of Information as a cameraman, where he produced documentaries and brief films.
Two years later, he produced his first medium-length film, Five Days in a Life.In 1974, Ciss produced his very first full-length film The Young Girl.
His 2nd film Work was launched 4 years later on and won the Yenengas Talon prize at Fespaco in 1979.
In 1982, Ciss produced The Wind, which informs the story of dissatisfied Malian youth rising against the establishment.
This made him his 2nd Yenengas Talon, at 1983s Fespaco.Between 1984 and 1987, he produced Yeelen, a coming-of-age film that won the Jury Prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, ending up being the first African movie to win a reward in the celebrations history.
In 1995, he produced Time, which likewise contended for the Palme dOr at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.He acted as the president of UCECAO, the Union of Creators and Entrepreneurs of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts of Western Africa.
His work exhibits the development of social realism in African movie theater, including its eventual motion towards the healing of tradition.Ciss has likewise been called a master of intricate storytelling, maintaining the strange in the ordinary.
His films have been understood for their uncompromising depictions of military violence, abuse of money and power, trade unionism, and the withstanding stranglehold of patriarchal traditions over Bamakos women and youth.SS/