Education
He attended secondary school in Dakar, and returned to Mali in 1960 after national independence.
(This adaptation from an ancient oral legend from Mali is ...)
This adaptation from an ancient oral legend from Mali is oen of the most acclaimed and widely seen African films ever made. An Oedipal story mixed with magic, Yeleen is as visually stunning as anything from Hollywood. Set in the powerful Mali Empire of the 13th century, Yeleen tells of the journey of Niankoro, a young warrior who must comfort an evil sorcerer who is also his father. Niankoro uses his own magical powers to battle his father. The film follows him on his quest across arid Bambara, Fulani and Dogan lands and explores a cross-section of West African Cultures and folklore. Cisse's extraordinary use of landscapes and light produces a unique and striking cinematic style.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000D0YWS/?tag=2022091-20
director screenwriter film producer
He attended secondary school in Dakar, and returned to Mali in 1960 after national independence.
His film career began as an assistant projectionist for a documentary on the arrest of Patrice Lumumba. This triggered his desire to create films of his own, and he obtained a scholarship to the Moscow school of Cinema and Television. In 1970 he returned to Mali once more, and joined the Ministry of Information as a cameraman, where he produced documentaries and short films.
In 1972, he produced his first medium-length film, Cinq jours d’une vie (Five Days in a Life), which tells the story of a young man who drops out of a Qur"anic school and becomes a petty thief living on the street.
Cinq Jours premiered at the Carthage Film Festival. In 1974, he produced his first full-length film in the Bambara language, Den muso (The Girl), the story of a young mute girl who has been raped.
The girl becomes pregnant, and is rejected both by her family and by the child"s father. Den Muso was banned by the Malian Minister of Culture, and Cissé was arrested and jailed for having accepted French funding.
In 1982, he produced Finyé (Wind), which tells the story of dissatisfied Malian youth rising up against the establishment.
This earned him his second Yenenga"s Talon, at 1983"s Fespaco. Cissé is president of UCECAO, the Union of Creators and Entrepreneurs of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts of Western Africa.
(This adaptation from an ancient oral legend from Mali is ...)