Abderrahmane Sissako

Abderrahmane Sissako
File:Abderrahmane Sissako.jpg
Born	(1961-10-13) 13 October 1961 Kiffa, Mauritania
Nationality	Mauritanian
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, producer

Abderrahmane Sissako (born 13 October 1961) is a film director and producer who has often worked in Mali and France. Sissako is, along with Ousmane Sembène, Souleymane Cissé, Idrissa Ouedraogo and Djibril Diop Mambety, one of the few filmmakers from Africa to reach a measure of international influence. His film Waiting for Happiness (Heremakono) was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival official selection under Un Certain Regard, winning the FIPRESCI Prize. His 2007 film Bamako received much attention. Sissako's themes include globalisation, exile and the displacement of people. His 2014 film Timbuktu was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Biography

Soon after his birth Sissako's family emigrated to Mali, his father's country, where he completed part of his primary and secondary education. Sissako returned briefly to Mauritania, his mother's land, in 1980. Then he left for Moscow, where he studied cinema at the VGIK (Federal State Film Institute) from 1983 to 1989. Sissako settled in France at the beginning of the 1990s.

Besides his work as a director, he also works as a cultural advisor for Mauritanian head of state Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Sex et perestroïka	Assistant director	Directed by François Jouffa & Francis Leroi
1991	Le jeu	Director & Writer	Short
1993	Oktyabr	Director & Writer	Short
1995	Petite météorologie ou Sept histoires de temps	Actor	Short directed by Charles Castella
	Molom, conte de Mongolie	Production designer	Directed by Marie-Jaoul de Poncheville
1997	Africa Dreaming	Director	TV Series (1 Episode)
	Documenta X - Die Filme	Director	Directed with Charles Burnett, Harun Farocki and Aleksandr Sokurov
1998	La Vie Sur Terre	Director, Writer & Actor	San Francisco International Film Festival - Golden Spire Fribourg International Film Festival - Ecumenical Jury Award Fribourg International Film Festival - FIPRESCI Prize - Special Mention Fribourg International Film Festival - Grand Prix Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou - Air Afrique Special Award Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou - INALCO Award Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou - Special Mention Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou - TELCIPRO Award - Feature Film Taormina Film Fest - Silver Charybdis
	Rostov-Luanda	Director & Writer	Documentary Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film - Best Documentary Award - Special Mention
2002	Waiting for Happiness	Director & Writer	Cannes Film Festival - Foreign Cineaste of the Year Cannes Film Festival - FIPRESCI Prize Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema - Best Film Gijón International Film Festival - Special Jury Award Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film - Youth Jury Emile Cantillon Award Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou - Grand Prize - Etalon de Yennega Paris Biennal of Arab Cinema - IMA Grand Prize Nominated - Gijón International Film Festival - Grand Prix Asturias - Best Feature Nominated - Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film - Golden Bayard - Best Film
	Abouna	Executive producer	Directed by Mahamat Saleh Haroun
2003	Le silence de la forêt	Producer	Directed by Bassek Ba Kobhio & Didier Ouenangare
	Malenkie lyudi	Producer	Directed by Nariman Turebaev
2006	Bamako	Director, Writer, Producer & Actor	Lumières Award for Best French-Language Film International Istanbul Film Festival - FACE Award Festival Paris Cinéma - Audience Award
	Daratt	Producer	Directed by Mahamat Saleh Haroun
2008	8	Director & Writer	Directed with Jane Campion, Gael García Bernal, Jan Kounen, Mira Nair, Gaspar Noé, Gus Van Sant & Wim Wenders
	Stories on Human Rights	Director	Directed with Marina Abramović, Sergei Bodrov, Shira Geffen, Jia Zhangke, Etgar Keret, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Pipilotti Rist, Walter Salles, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Jasmila Žbanić...
2010	Je vous souhaite la pluie	Director	TV Short
2014	Timbuktu	Director & Writer	César Award for Best Film César Award for Best Director César Award for Best Original Screenplay Cannes Film Festival - François Chalais Prize Cannes Film Festival - Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Lumières Award for Best Film Lumières Award for Best Director Chicago International Film Festival - Best Director Globes de Cristal Award - Best Film African-American Film Critics Association - Best World Cinema Jerusalem Film Festival - Best Feature French Syndicate of Cinema Critics - Best Film Grand Prix de l'UCC Nominated - Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated - Cannes Film Festival - Palme d'Or Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated - Cairo International Film Festival - Best Arabic Film Nominated - Louis Delluc Prize - Best Film Nominated - Hamburg Film Festival - Art Cinema Award

Jury

In addition to feature films and short films, Sissako has served on the jury of the Premiers Plans festival in Angers in January 2007.

• 2000: 53rd Cannes International Film Festival (jury member, Cinéfondation and short films section)
• 2003: 56th Cannes International Film Festival (jury president, Un Certain Regard section)
• 2014: 36th Moscow International Film Festival (jury member, main competition section)
• 2015: 68th Cannes International Film Festival (jury president, Cinéfondation and short films section)

Bibliography

• Thomas Sotinel, « Abderrahmane Sissako. Pour en finir avec le cinéma du Nord », Le Monde, 21 octobre 2006, p. 19
• Samuel Lelièvre, « Les cinémas africains, Abderrahmane Sissako et les frontières du monde », CinémAction, no. 137, 2010, pp. 182–185.

External links

• Abderrahmane Sissako at IMDb
• Interview: Abderrahmane Sissako with Kwame Anthony Appiah
• Sight and Sound, Film of the Month: Bamako
• A Fragmented Epistemology: The Films of Abderrahmane Sissako
• Sissako YouTube Interview, 2007