My favourite African filmmakers
by Koyaanisqatsi4 | created - 19 Feb 2017 | updated - 19 May 2018 | Public
1. Ousmane Sembene
Writer | Moolaadé
The first film director from an African country to achieve international recognition, Ousmane Sembene remains the major figure in the rise of an independent post-colonial African cinema. Sembene's roots were not, as might be expected, in the educated élite. After working as a mechanic and ...
Senegal
2. Idrissa Ouedraogo
Director | Yaaba
Idrissa Ouedraogo was born on January 21, 1954 in Banfora, Upper Volta [now Burkina Faso]. He was a director and writer, known for Yaaba (1989), The Law (1990) and Samba Traoré (1992). He died on February 18, 2018 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Burkina Faso
3. Djibril Diop Mambéty
Director | Touki Bouki
Born the son of a Muslim cleric in Colobane, near Dakar, Senegal, Djibril Diop Mambéty received no formal training in filmmaking. He experimented with theater, but in 1968, he was asked to leave an avant-garde theater group. Shortly thereafter, he made his first film short called Badou Boy (1970), ...
Senegal
4. Gaston Kaboré
Director | Zan Boko
Kabore started out as a history student at the Centre d'Etudes Superieures d'Histoire d'Ouagadougou and continued his studies in Paris where he received an MA. During his studies he became interested in how Africa was portrayed abroad, which then led him, in 1974, to study cinematography at the ...
Burkina Faso
5. Souleymane Cissé
Director | Yeelen
Souleymane Cissé was born on April 21, 1940 in Bamako, Mali. He is a director and writer, known for Yeelen (1987), Baara (1978) and The Wind (1982).
Mali
6. Moufida Tlatli
Editor | Samt El Qusur
Was raised in Tunisia in a tradition-oriented family. It was in high school, thanks to her philosophy teacher, who ran a film club, that she developed a taste for the cinema. After graduating from the IDHEC film school in 1968, in the editing department, she went back to live in Tunisia in 1972. ...
Tunisia
7. Abderrahmane Sissako
Director | Timbuktu
Abderrahmane Sissako was born on October 13, 1961 in Kiffa, Mauritania. He is a director and writer, known for Timbuktu (2014), Life on Earth (1998) and Waiting for Happiness (2002).
Mauritania
8. Henry Barakat
Director | El bab el maftuh
Henry Barakat was born on June 11, 1914 in Cairo, Egypt. He was a director and writer, known for El bab el maftuh (1963), Hasan wa Naimah (1959) and Leilet al quabd al Fatma (1984). He died on May 27, 1997 in Cairo, Egypt.
Egypt
9. Nacer Khemir
Director | El-haimoune
Nacer Khemir was born in 1950 in Korba, Tunisia. He is a director and writer, known for Wanderers of the Desert (1984), The Dove's Lost Necklace (1991) and Bab'Aziz: The Prince That Contemplated His Soul (2005).
Tunisia
10. Youssef Chahine
Director | Iskanderija... lih?
Youssef Chahine (born in Alexandria, Egypt, 1926) started studying in a friars' school, and then turned to Victoria College until the High School Certificate. After one year in the University of Alexandria, he moved to the U.S. and spent two years at the Pasadena Play House, taking courses on film ...
Egypt
11. Jean-Marie Téno
Director | Clando
Jean-Marie Teno, Africa's preeminent documentary filmmaker, has been producing and directing films on the colonial and post-colonial history of Africa for over twenty years. Films by Jean-Marie Teno have been honored at festivals worldwide: Berlin, Toronto, Yamagata, Cinema du Reel, Visions du Reel...
Cameroon
12. Cheick Oumar Sissoko
Director | Guimba: un tyran, une époque
Born in 1945 in San (in Ségou, the 4th region of Mali). Has studied filmmaking at the Ecole Nationale Louis Lumière (National School Louis Lumière), Paris. Worked as filmaker at the Centre National de Production Cinématographique (CNPC) in Mali, when he returned. Has created, with other young ...
Mali
13. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Director | Daratt
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun was born in 1961 in Abéché, Chad. He is a director and writer, known for Dry Season (2006), A Screaming Man (2010) and Our Father (2002).
Chad
14. Moussa Sene Absa
Director | Xalé
Moussa Sene Absa was born in 1958 in Dakar, Senegal. He is a director and writer, known for Xalé (2022), L'extraordinaire destin de Madame Brouette (2002) and Tableau ferraille (1997).
Senegal
15. Med Hondo
Director | Sarraounia
Med Hondo was born on May 4, 1935 in Aïn-Béni-Mathar, Morocco. He was an actor and director, known for Sarraounia (1986), Oh, Sun (1970) and Arabs and Niggers, Your Neighbours (1974). He died on March 2, 2019 in Paris, France.
Algeria
16. Abdoulaye Ascofare
Director | Faraw!
Abdoulaye Ascofare was born on April 20, 1949 in Gao, Mali. He is a director and actor, known for Mother of the Dunes (1997), Zabou, mannequin des sables (2003) and Wamba (1976).
Mali
17. Muhammad Camara
Actor | Dakan
Muhammad Camara was born in 1959 in Conakry, Guinea. He is an actor and director, known for Destiny (1997), Denko (1993) and Minka (1994).
Guinea
18. Ruy Duarte de Carvalho
Director | Nelisita
Ruy Duarte de Carvalho was born on April 22, 1941 in Santarem, Portugal. He is a director and writer, known for Nelisita (1982), O Recado das Ilhas (1989) and Os Papéis do Inglês.
Angola
19. Djo Munga
Producer | Viva Riva!
Djo Tunda wa Munga was born in 1972 in Kinshasa, DR Congo where he spent his childhood. At the age of 10 he left for Belgium. He studied art school. Later he joined the National Film School of Belgium, INSAS. After completing his studies he returned to Kinshasa where he worked as producer and ...
Democratic Republic of the Congo
20. David 'Tosh' Gitonga
Director | Nairobi Half Life
David 'Tosh' Gitonga is known for Nairobi Half Life (2012), Disconnect (2018) and Volume (2023).
Kenya
21. Ralph Ziman
Director | Jerusalema
Ralph Ziman was born in 1963 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a director and writer, known for Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (2008), The Zookeeper (2001) and Hearts & Minds (1995). He is married to Maria. They have two children.
South Africa
22. Gavin Hood
Director | Official Secrets
Gavin Hood was born on May 12, 1963 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is an actor and director, known for Official Secrets (2019), Tsotsi (2005) and Eye in the Sky (2015). He was previously married to Janine Eser.
South Africa
23. Mansour Sora Wade
Director | Ndeysaan
Mansour Sora Wade is known for Ndeysaan (2001), Picc mi (1992) and Les feux de Mansaré (2009).
Senegal
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