Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesAfrican cinema
Cinema of Africa is both the history and present of the making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the early 20th century, when film reels w ...
to international attention in the 1960s and 1970s.
Life
Ganda was born 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 ...
, the capital of
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesDjerma ethnicity. He completed his primary studies in Niamey and at the age of 16 joined the
French Far East Expeditionary Corps
The French Far East Expeditionary Corps (french: Corps Expéditionnaire Français en Extrême-Orient, CEFEO) was a colonial expeditionary force of the French Union Army that was initially formed in French Indochina in 1945 during the Pacific W ...
as a soldier from 1951 to 1955. After spending two years in Asia during the
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
he returned to Niger, where he was unable to find work. He emigrated to Côte d'Ivoire and became a longshoreman in the port of
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...
. There he met French anthropologist and filmmaker
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 ...
. Rouch was interested in the Nigerien community in Côte d'Ivoire and hired Ganda as a statistician for his research on immigration.
It was Rouch who introduced Ganda to the cinema. Ganda had a small role in Rouch's 1957 film ''Zazouman de Treichville'', and the lead role in '' Moi, un Noir'' (''I, a Negro'') in 1958. A few years later he returned to
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 ...
, where he became involved in the Franco-Nigerien Cultural Center. In the Center's Culture and Cinema club he met technicians who offered training in directing, camera, and sound, and he became an assistant technician. The club produced several films, and in 1968 organized a screenplay contest, for which Ganda wrote the script of his first film, ''Cabascabo'', based on his experiences in Indochina. He continued making films throughout the 1970s, many of which received international acclaim and were vehicles of social commentary in what was then a single party state. His most famous, '' Le Wazzou Polygame'' (1970) won the first FESPACO Film Festival Best Film Award. In addition to his dramatic films, Ganda completed several documentaries and was working on one at the time of his death of a heart attack on January 1, 1981.
Posthumous honors
Among his posthumous honors, a major cultural center, performance, and library complex in Niamey, ''Le Centre Culturel Oumarou GANDA (C.C.O.G)'' was named for him in 1981, shortly after his death.
As the winner of the Best Film award at the first annual
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 ...
film festival, upon his death FESPACO began awarding an African Feature Film Award named the ''Oumarou Ganda Prize''.
Films
*'' Cabascabo'' (1968, 45 minutes, black and white, filmed entirely in the Zarma language) Autobiographical film that deals with Ganda's service in the French Expeditionary Corps in
Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
. A young soldier sees his comrades die in battle for a cause completely foreign to them. ''Cabascabo'' premiered in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
in 1968 and was also shown at
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
and forced marriage. The films is critical of
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesAfrica
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. Among other awards, it received the first
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 ...
grand prize in 1972.The History of FESPACO BBC World Service, 2003.
*''Saïtane'' (1972, 64 minutes, 16 mm, color, Zarma language) Another film of social criticism in which a
marabout
A marabout ( ar, مُرابِط, murābiṭ, lit=one who is attached/garrisoned) is a Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the function of a chaplain serving as a part of an Islamic army, notably in North Africa and the Sah ...
serves as a go-between for an adulterous woman and her wealthy lover.
*''L'Exilé'' (1980, 90 minutes, 16mm, color) Inspired by an African folk tale. The use of folk tales as inspiration is one of Ganda's significant contributions to
African cinema
Cinema of Africa is both the history and present of the making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the early 20th century, when film reels w ...
.
References
Retrospective: Oumarou Ganda Fofo Magazine (Niamey) 28 March 2008. Retrospectives du cinéma nigérien : Oumarou Ganda Planete Afrique. Guy Hennebelle and Catherine Ruelle, extracted from ''cinéastes d'Afrique Noire'' September 2008.
*Lyle Pearson. Four Years of African Film. Film Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 3 (Spring, 1973), pp. 42–47
*Jean Rouch, Steven Feld. Ciné-ethnography. University of Minnesota Press (2003) ''Interviews with Rouch where most discussion of Ganda is of his collaborations with Rouch and early career.''
*
Paul Stoller
Paul Stoller (born January 25, 1947) is an American cultural anthropologist. He is a professor of anthropology at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Biography
Stoller received his B.A. in political science at the University ...
. The Cinematic Griot: The Ethnography of Jean Rouch. University of Chicago Press (1992)
*Paul Stoller. Artaud, Rouch, and The Cinema of Cruelty. Visual Anthropology Review. Volume 8 Issue 2, (September 1992) Pages 50 – 57
* Nwachukwu Frank Ukadike. Black African Cinema. University of California Press (1994) pp. 75–79, 135, passim Oumarou Ganda Encyclopædia Universalis France, accessed 2009-03-30.