Abderrahmane Sissako

Abderrahmane Sissako

Biography

Abderrahmane Sissako born 1961 in Kiffa, Mauritania) was raised in his father`s homeland of Mali; in 1980 he rejoined his mother in Nouakchott, Mauritania. A scholarship to study Russian literature enabled him to attend the Institute of the University of Moscow and later to enroll in Moscow`s Institute for Cinema (VGIK), where he studied from 1983 to 1989. His desire to become a filmmaker stemmed from early childhood experiences-his separation from his half brother and Malian childhood friends, and the loss of his original Bambara language. His first short film, Le Jeu (1990), presented as a graduation assignment and poorly received by a school jury, eventually went on to receive great acclaim. Sissako settled in France and continued to pursue filmmaking, working in a complex philosophical style that combines personal essay, autobiography, allegory, and drama to explore identity, displacement, and the cultural and economic effects of colonialism in contemporary Africa. (Africultures)

Filmography

Timbuktu (2014): Screenplay, Direction

Octobre (1993): Screenplay, Direction

Sabryia (1997): Direction

La vie sur terre (1998): Actor, Screenplay, Direction

Daratt (2006): Producer

Le rêve de Tiya (2008): Screenplay, Direction

Bamako (2006): Screenplay, Direction

Heremakono (2002): Screenplay, Direction