Film Director
Mauritania
Born 1961 in Mauritania, he grew up in Mali before studying film at VGIK (National Institute of Cinema of Moscow). His graduation film THE GAME (1989) was screened at the International Critics’ Week in Cannes 1991. Two years later, Sissako directed the medium-length film OCTOBER, screened at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. It is with LIFE ON EARTH screened at Directors’ Fortnight 1998 and WAITING FOR HAPPINESS screened at Un Certain Regard 2002 and awarded International Critics’ Week Prize, that he truly distinguishes himself as one of the most important filmmakers of his African continent. His following long film BAMAKO was selected in Cannes, Out of Competition, in 2006. TIMBUKTU (2014) received seven French Cesar Award and was nominated for the Oscar of Best Foreign Film (2015)
