Trailblazer of African cinema was the winner of the jury’s prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival for his film, Yeelen.Mali’s highly acclaimed director Souleymane Cisse, who is considered one of the pillars of African cinema, has died at age 84.
His daughter announced that Cisse died on Wednesday, leaving a trailblazing legacy on the silver screen spanning half a century that was marked by a commitment to African storytelling, deep humanism and profound 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.
Cisse won the jury’s prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival for “Yeelen” (“Brightness”), which draws on legends from west Africa’s Bambara people.
In 2023, Cannes honoured him again with the Carrosse d’Or, an award given to directors who have “marked the history of cinema with their boldness, their exacting standards and their intransigence in staging”.
That award was stolen from his home in 2024, before being found again.
❤️ Remembering Souleymane Cissé (1940-2025), one of cinema’s greats known for catapulting African film to the world stage with his feature YEELEN, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 1987 and became the first African movie to be awarded at the festival. pic.twitter.com/jYPzT0vdN3
— Film at Lincoln Center (@FilmLinc) February 19, 2025
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