Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cisse, pioneer of African cinema, dies aged 84

Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cisse, a pioneer of African cinema with a career spanning 50 years, has died aged 84, Malian television announced.

The cause of Cisse’s death was not announced.

The Malian government said Cisse “had just held a press conference to present two trophies as a prelude to the 29th edition of Fespaco, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, which will open this next weekend in the capital of Burkina Faso”.

Cisse was the first black African filmmaker to win a feature film prize at Cannes.

He also won awards, including the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1987 for his film Yeelen (The Light), and in 2023 he won the Carrosse d’or at the Cannes Film Festival in France for his film Finye (The Wind).

Cisse is also a two-time winner of the Etalon d’or de Yennenga, the Grand Prize of the Ouagadougou Pan-African Film and Television Festival.

Born in Bamako, Mali, Cisse studied in Mali, Senegal and Moscow, Russia.

He was president of the Union of Creators and Entrepreneurs of Cinema and Audiovisuals of West Africa.

Tributes poured in for Cisse, whose trailblazing work on the silver screen across more than half a century was marked by a commitment to African storytelling, deep humanism and political engagement.

“Papa died today in Bamako. We are all in shock. He dedicated all his life to his country, to cinema and to art,” Mariam Cisse said.