Damouré Zika (c. 1923 – 6 April 2009 Niger mourns film and radio star
BBC News 7 April 2009.Damoure Zika, Nigerien documentary star, dies at 86
AFP. 6 April 2009.) was a

Nigerien This article is about the demographic features of the population of Niger, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. The largest ...

traditional healer A folk healer is an unlicensed person who practices the art of healing using traditional practices, herbal remedies and the power of suggestion. The healer may be a highly trained person who pursues their specialties, learning by study, observa ...

, broadcaster, and

film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. Coming from a long line of traditional healers in the

Sorko Bozo ( meaning house of straw) is a Mande language spoken by the Bozo people of the Inner Niger Delta in Mali. For Fishing, many Bozo are also found in other West African countries where there are Rivers and Dams, such as Nigeria, Burkina Faso a ...

ethnic group of western Niger, Zika appeared in many of the films of French director

Jean Rouch Jean Rouch (; 31 May 1917 – 18 February 2004) was a French filmmaker and anthropologist. He is considered one of the founders of cinéma vérité in France. Rouch's practice as a filmmaker, for over 60 years in Africa, was characterized b ...

, becoming one of Niger's first actors. As a practitioner of traditional medicine, he opened a clinic in

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital dis ...

, and was for many years a broadcaster and commentator on health issues for Niger's national radio.

Early life

Zika was the son of a Zarma speaking traditional healer and fisherman, near the town of

Ayorou Ayourou (or Ayorou or Ayerou) is a town and rural commune in the Tillabéri Region, in western Niger.

on the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...

. It was there, in the 1940s, that he began working with the French ethnographer and filmmaker

, who was then working as a French colonial hydrology engineer. Zika came from a long line of

healers and spirit mediums. He met Rouch after ten Sorko workers in a construction depot which Rouch supervised were killed by a lightning strike. Zika's grandmother, a famous possession medium and spiritual advisor, presided over a ritual for the men, which Rouch later claimed sparked his desire to make enthographic film. The two became friends, and Rouch began in 1950 to use Zika as the focus of his films demonstration the traditions, culture, and ecology of the people of the Niger River valley. The first of 150 in which Zika appeared was "''Bataille sur le grand fleuve''" (1950-52), portraying the lives, ceremonies and hunting of Sorko fishermen.

Films

By the late 1950s, these films became longer and more narrative. " Jaguar" (filmed 1954-1955) stars Zika as a Songhai noble traveling for work to the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

.These three men dramatized their real life roles in the film, and went on to become three of

Nigerien cinema The Cinema of Niger began in the 1940s with the ethnographical documentary of French director Jean Rouch, before growing to become one of the most active national film cultures in Francophone Africa in the 1960s-70s with the work of filmmakers such ...

's first actors. See: Jean Rouch. Notes on migrations into the Gold Coast. (First report of the mission carried out in the Gold Coast from March to December, 1954) Tr. into English by P.E.O. and J.B. Heigham. Accra, (1954) OCLC 11092127 and Jean Rouch, Steven Feld. Ciné-ethnography. University of Minnesota Press, (2003) pp. 352-353 Filmed a silent ethnographic piece, Zika helped re-edit the film into a feature-length movie, and provided dialog and commentary for a 1967 release. By that time Rouch was producing long narrative films, many of which Zika appeared in, becoming one of

's first recognizable actors. Zika was among those injured in the 2004 car accident near

N'guigmi N'guigmi is a city and Commune of fifteen thousand in the easternmost part of Niger, very near to Lake Chad – lying on its shore until the lake retreated. It is a crossroads for the traditional camel caravans of the Toureg and for traders p ...

in which Rouch died.Décès de l'acteur Damouré Zika, ami et complice de Jean Rouch
. ATS. 6 April 2009.

Healthcare and broadcasting

Continuing his study of traditional medicine, Zika became a licensed practitioner and began a long career as a broadcaster, hosting a fortnightly show on Niger's state run Radio Voix du Sahel. Zika used his fame to finance a clinic in Lamordé, a district on the right bank of the Niger in

. There he provided free care for the indigent for many decades. Zika died in Niamey after a long illness on 6 April 2009, with his age reported as somewhere between 85 and 86. He is survived by four wives, 35 children and 80 grandchildren.

Notable films

* Jaguar (filmed 1954-55, released 1967): Actor, editor, sound *

Petit à petit Petite or petite may refer to: *Petit (crater), a small, bowl-shaped lunar crater on Mare Spumans * ''Petit'' (EP), a 1995 EP by Japanese singer-songwriter Ua * Petit (typography), another name for brevier-size type *Petit four * Petit Gâteau *P ...

"''Little by Little''" (1971): Actor *'' Cocorico! Monsieur Poulet'' "''Cocka-doodle-doo Mr. Chicken''" (1974): Actor *

Babatu ''Babatu'' is a 1976 Nigerien film directed by Jean Rouch. It was an official selection in the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Lam Dia * Diama * Oumarou Ganda Oumarou Ganda (1935 – 1 January 1981) was a Nigerien director and actor who ...

(1976)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zika, Damoure Nigerien film actors 1920s births 2009 deaths