Moussa Sene Absa, Moussa Sène Absa, or Moussa Sène Absa (proper name: Moussa Sène) is a Senegalese

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 ...

, editor, producer,

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and songwriter.Africa Cultures ''Biography'' He was born in 1958 in Tableau Ferraille, a suburb of

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, Senegal, to a Serer family.French Television (TV5Monde): ''Les cinémas d'Afrique, l'encyclopédie du film africain''

Film

Moussa Sène began his career as an actor, but eventually moved on to direct his own play ''La Légende de Ruba'', which he also wrote. Moussa was honored for his screenplay ''Les Enfants de Dieu'' (The Children of God) at the Francophone film festival in

Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the ...

. His first film ''Le Prix du mensonge'' (''The Price of Lies'') earned him the Tanit d'argent (Silver Tanit) at the Journées cinématographiques de Carthage (

Carthage Film Festival The Carthage Film Festival (CFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Tunis and founded in 1966. It is also called by its abbreviation JCC, from its French name, , or by its Arabic title, (''Cinema Days of Carthage''). Initially bienn ...

) in 1988 which propelled his career as a

film maker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a Film, motion picture is #Production, produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through scr ...

. He went on to win several international awards in 1992 with his feature film ''Ça Twiste À Poponguine''. His film ''Tableau Ferraille'' released in 1996 earn him several awards including Best

Cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

at the

FESPACO The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou or FESPACO) is a film festival in Burkina Faso, held biennially in Ouagadougou, where the organization is based. It ...

in 1997. He was also the producer for Senegal Television's comedy series ''Goorgorlu'' (2002).

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

: Specials: ''"Who's who at Frespaco"'' (2003)At play mall : The Art Biography - ''Moussa Sene Absa's art gallery''
/ref> Moussa has made at least ten Senegal related documentaries and he is the

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

or co-songwriter for all of his films as well as the editor, producer, director and screenwriter.

Art

Known for his films, music and documentaries, he is also a prominent

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

whose works are exhibited in Senegal,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

(

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

in particular) fetching thousands of

Dollars Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, Un ...

. Moussa's art works are vivid and colourful, and have been exhibited since 1976. His style is inspired by the works of

Rufino Tamayo Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo (August 25, 1899 – June 24, 1991) was a Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.Sullivan, 170-171Ades, 357 Tamayo was active in the mid-20th century in Mexico and New York, ...

and

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona i ...

, with elements of the older African technique. Some of his art works have been exhibited at the ''Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery'' at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Selection of work

Filmography

*1988: ''Le Prix du mensonge'' *1990: ''Ken Bugul'' *1991: ''Entre nos mains'' ; ''Jaaraama'' ; ''Set Setal'' *1992: ''Moolan'' *1993: ''Offrande à Mame Njare'' *1994: ''Ça twiste à Poponguine'' ; ''Yalla yaana'' *1995: ''

Tableau Ferraille Tableau Ferraille is a 1997 Senegalese film written and directed by Moussa Sene Absa. Set in a seaside town near Dakar called ''Tableau Ferraille'', or "Scrap Heap," the film depicts the political career of ambitious Daam, played by Ismaël Lô, ...

'' *1998: ''Jëf Jël'' ; ''Tableau ferraille'' *1999: ''Blues pour une diva'' *2001: ''Ainsi meurent les anges'' *2002: ''L'Extraordinaire destin de Madame Brouette'' (Madame Brouette) *2004: ''Ngoyaan, le chant de la séduction'' *2007: ''Téranga Blues'' *2010: ''Yoole'' *''2010: The Lost Wings of Angels'' (documentary)Africa International Film Festival (2010), p 15 *2020: ''Black and White'' (television series) *2022: '' Xalé''

Art

*''Telling Oracle'' *''A Lullaby For Massene'' *''Beauty From Tableau Ferraille'' *''Baay Faals In Paradise'' *''Clando'' *''Beggars In The City'' *''The Fiance'' *''Blues In Paradise'' *''Cops Of Another Time''

References

External links

* Africa Cultures ''Biography

* French Television (

TV5Monde TV5Monde (), formerly known as TV5, is a French public television network, broadcasting several channels of French-language programming. It is an approved participant member of the European Broadcasting Union. The network is available across ...

) : ''Les cinémas d'Afrique, l'encyclopédie du film africai

' *

: Specials: ''"Who's who at Frespaco"'' (200

Africa International Film Festival (2010)

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100312000203/http://spot.pcc.edu/~mdembrow/absainterview.htm ''"INTERVIEW WITH MOUSSA SENE ABSA, Director of Madame Brouette"'' by PCC, original source: ''"La Fête Films, 2002"'', translated into English by Michael Dembrow] {{DEFAULTSORT:Absa, Moussa Sene 1958 births Living people People from Dakar Senegalese film directors Serer film directors