Falaba Issa Traoré (1930 – August 8, 2003) was a

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. Mali ...

an writer,

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, and

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

. Born in

Bougouni Bougouni is a commune and city in Mali, the administrative center of Bougouni Cercle, which is in turn found in the administrative region of Sikasso. Bougouni is located 170 km south of Bamako and 210 km west of the city of Sikasso. ...

, Traoré directed an amateur theater troupe before taking over direction of the regional troupe of

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, 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 t ...

between 1962 and 1968. From 1969 to 1973, he created and directed the Yankadi troupe for

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

and the dramatic arts. In 1973, he traveled to Germany to study

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

direction. On returning to Mali in 1976 he directed the cinema division of the Ministry of Sports, Arts, and Culture. As a comedian, Traoré played notable roles in the films of Kalifa Dienta (''A Banna''), of Cheick Oumar Sissoko (''Nidiougou Guimba''), and of Boubacar Sidibé (''le pacte social'', ''Sanoudié'', and ''N'Tronkélé''). He worked also as a director, making his first film, ''Juguifolo'' (''First Gleam of Hope''), in 1979, and his last, Bamunan (''The Sacred Pagne'') in 1990. Falaba Issa Traoré is the author of the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s ''Soundiata ou l'épopée mandingue'' and ''Dah Monzon ou l'épopée Bambara''. In 1972, Traoré won the prix Afrique de Poésie de la Francophonie. He died in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, on August 8, 2003.

Filmography

* 1979 ''Juguifolo'' (''First Gleam of Hope'') * 1980 ''Anbé no don'' (''We Are All Guilty'') * 1980 ''Kiri Kara Watita'' (''Duel on the Cliffs'') * 1990 ''Bamunan'' (''The Sacred Pagne'').

Bibliography

* 1970 ''Contes et récits du terroir''

External links

1930 births 2003 deaths Malian dramatists and playwrights Malian male writers Male dramatists and playwrights Malian film directors People from Sikasso Region 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Malian male film actors 20th-century Malian male actors 20th-century male writers 21st-century Malian people {{Africa-film-director-stub