FILM DIRECTOR

Souleymane Cissé

1940 - 2025

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Souleymane Cissé (21 April 1940 – 19 February 2025) was a Malian film director, regarded as one of the first generation of African filmmakers. He was called "Africa's greatest living filmmaker" while his film Yeelen has been called "conceivably the greatest African film ever made". He was the first director from sub-Saharan Africa to receive an award, at the Cannes Film Festival in 1987, for “Yeelen”, he was awarded the Golden Coach in 2023. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Souleymane Cissé is the 270th most popular film director (up from 960th in 2019), the 9th most popular biography from Mali (up from 19th in 2019) and the most popular Malian Film Director.

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Among FILM DIRECTORS

Among film directors, Souleymane Cissé ranks 270 out of 2,041. Before him are Gus Van Sant, Claude Sautet, Rouben Mamoulian, Douglas Sirk, Jerzy Stuhr, and Gojko Mitić. After him are Béla Tarr, Terence Young, Nanni Moretti, Robert Siodmak, Mario Bava, and Bigas Luna.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1940, Souleymane Cissé ranks 122. Before him are Mate Boban, Nobuyoshi Araki, Frida Boccara, Peter Diamond, Gojko Mitić, and Robin Cook. After him are Walter Alvarez, Rudi Dutschke, Régis Debray, Fabrizio De André, Jean-Luc Dehaene, and Amjad Khan. Among people deceased in 2025, Souleymane Cissé ranks 89. Before him are Friðrik Ólafsson, Hossein Salami, Zurab Tsereteli, Felix Baumgartner, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and Nino Benvenuti. After him are Vlastimil Hort, Greg Bell, Eugen Doga, Lea Massari, Kit Bond, and Mauricio Funes.

Others Born in 1940

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In Mali

Among people born in Mali, Souleymane Cissé ranks 9 out of 72. Before him are Askia Mohammad I (1443), Modibo Keïta (1915), Amadou Toumani Touré (1948), Salif Keita (1949), Moussa Traoré (1936), and Jean Tigana (1955). After him are Alpha Oumar Konaré (1946), Jean Zerbo (1943), Ali Farka Touré (1939), Dioncounda Traoré (1942), Bah Ndaw (1950), and Sonni Ali (1464).

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Among FILM DIRECTORS In Mali

Among film directors born in Mali, Souleymane Cissé ranks 1. 

Malian born Film Directors

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