Abderrahmane Sissako (born 13 October 1961) is a Mauritanian-born

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

an film director and producer. His film ''

Waiting for Happiness ''Waiting for Happiness'' (original title: ''Heremakono''; ) is a 2002 Mauritanian drama film written and directed by Abderrahmane Sissako. Main characters are a student, who has returned to his home in Nouadhibou, an electrician and his child appr ...

'' (''Heremakono'') was screened at the

2002 Cannes Film Festival The 55th Cannes Film Festival started on 15 May and ran until 26 May 2002. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film '' The Pianist'' directed by Roman Polanski. The festival opened with '' Hollywood Ending'', direct ...

official selection under

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films ...

, winning a

FIPRESCI Prize The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

. His 2006 film ''

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger River ...

'' received much attention. Sissako's themes include globalisation, exile and the displacement of people. His 2014 film ''

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label= Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrat ...

'' was selected to compete for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

in the main competition section at the

2014 Cannes Film Festival The 67th Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 25 May 2014. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the main competition section. The Palme d'Or was awarded to the Turkish film ''Winter Sleep'' directed by Nuri B ...

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 Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, 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 worked as a cultural Advisor for former head of state

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz ( ar, محمد ولد عبد العزيز ''Muḥammad Wald 'Abd al-'Azīz''; born 20 December 1956) is a former Mauritanian politician who was the 8th President of Mauritania, in office from 2009 to 2019. A career sold ...

. Sissako is married to the Ethiopian film director Maji-da Abdi.

Filmography

Jury

In addition to

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s and

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s, Sissako has served on the jury of the

Premiers Plans Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

festival in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

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 The 36th Moscow International Film Festival took place from 19 to 28 June 2014. Russian film director Gleb Panfilov was the head of the main jury. Gabe Polsky's ''Red Army'' was selected to open the festival with Matt Reeves' ''Dawn of the Planet ...

(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 ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', 21 octobre 2006, p. 19 *Samuel Lelièvre, « Les cinémas africains, Abderrahmane Sissako et les frontières du monde », ''CinémAction'', no. 137, 2010, pp. 182–185.

References

External links

*
Interview: Abderrahmane Sissako with Kwame Anthony Appiah

Sight and Sound, Film of the Month: Bamako

Sissako YouTube Interview, 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sissako, Abderrahmane Mauritanian film directors Mauritanian film producers 1961 births Living people Mauritanian people of Malian descent Best Director Lumières Award winners Best Director César Award winners