Zalika Souley (7 October 1947 – 27 July 2021) was a Nigerien actress, the first
sub-Saharan movie actress,
and one of the pioneering actresses of
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 ...
.
Life
Aged 19, Zalika played the lead female role in
Moustapha Alassane
Moustapha Alassane (1942–17 March 2015) was a Nigerien filmmaker.
Biography
Born in 1942 in N’Dougou (Niger), Moustapha Alassane graduated in mechanics. However, in the Rouch IRSH in Niamey he learned the cinematographic technique and therea ...
's 1966 film ''
Le Retour d'un aventurier
''Le Retour d’un aventurier '' is a 1966 pop art film. In this African-style Western, director Moustapha Alassane delves into African mimicry.
Synopsis
A man returns home to his village with Western cowboy duds, and forms a gang with his o ...
''. Most of her later work was for
Oumarou Ganda
Oumarou Ganda (1935 – 1 January 1981) was a Nigerien director and actor who helped bring African cinema to international attention in the 1960s and 1970s.
Life
Ganda was born in Niamey, the capital of Niger, in 1935 and was of Djerma ethn ...
: ''
Cabascabo
''Cabascabo'' is a 1968 Nigerien-French drama film directed by Oumarou Ganda. It was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival, where it won a Diploma.
Cast
* Oumarou Ganda
Oumarou Ganda (1935 – 1 January 1981) was a Nigeri ...
'' (1968), ''Le Wazzou polygame'' (1971), ''Saïtane'' (1972) and ''L'Exilé'' (1980). She also acted in Moustapha Alassane's ''Women Cars Villas Money'' (1972), in
Yeo Kozoloa's ''
Petanqui'' (1983) and
Djingarey Maïga's ''Aube noire'' (1983).
Zalika enjoyed the trappings of wealth and fame, achieving notoriety for public behaviour then considered provocative, such as dressing in trousers.
Yaba Badoe
Yaba Badoe (born 1955) is a Ghanaian-British documentary filmmaker, journalist and author.
Career
Yaba Badoe was born in Tamale, northern Ghana. She left Ghana to be educated in Britain at a very young age.Beti Ellerson"A Conversation with Y ...
Women at Ouagadougou: Yaba Badoe talks to three women directors at this year's Fespaco
''Feminist Africa'', Issue 4, 2005. However, the Nigerien film industry declined from the 1980s onwards.
Rahmatou Keïta's 2004 documentary ''Al'lessi... An African Actress'' portrays Souley's life.
By the time Keïta made her film, Souley and her four children were living in a two-roomed house in
Niamey, without food or water. The film ended with the information that Zalika was now in Europe working as a maid, after she was forced to emigrate in 2000.
References
Further reading
* Aly N'keury N'daw, 'Zalika, star des films nigériens / Zalika: star of Niger films', ''Ecrans d'Afrique'' / ''African Screen'', Vol. 2, No. 5-6 (1993), pp. 28–31.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Souley, Zalika
1947 births
2021 deaths
Nigerien actresses
People from Niamey
Zarma-Songhai people