Oumarou Ganda

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Oumarou Ganda (* 1935 in Niamey , Niger ; † January 1, 1981 there ) was a Nigerien film director , screenwriter and actor .

Life

Oumarou Ganda belonged to the Zarma ethnic group . After attending primary school in Niamey, he joined the French expeditionary forces as a tirailleur . As a member he took part in the Indochina War for two years . When he couldn't find a job after his return home, he emigrated to the Ivory Coast and worked as a dock worker in Abidjan . There he met the French film director Jean Rouch , who gave him the lead role in 1958 in Ich, ein Neger .

Back in Niamey, Oumarou Ganda attended film courses at the Center Culturel Franco-Nigérien , where he worked as an assistant technician. As part of a script competition organized by the cultural center, Ganda wrote the script for his first autobiographical director, Cabascabo (1968), in which he himself played the leading role. The medium-length film was included in the programs of important European festivals such as the Cannes Film Festival in 1969 . With his other films - including Le wazzou polygame (1971), for which he received the main prize at FESPACO in 1972 - Oumarou Ganda consolidated his position as an important figure in Nigerien film and African cinema .

Sign at Center Culturel Oumarou Ganda
Center Culturel Oumarou Ganda

Oumarou Ganda died of heart disease. After his death, a cultural center in Niamey, the Center Culturel Oumarou Ganda , and a film award for the best first work at FESPACO, the Prix Oumarou Ganda, were named after him.

Filmography

As a film director, screenwriter and actor:

  • 1969: Cabascabo
  • 1971: Le wazzou polygame
  • 1973: Saitane
  • 1980: L'éxilé

As an actor:

  • 1958: I, a negro
  • 1976: Babatou - The three pieces of advice

literature

  • Pierre Haffner: Edgar Ray Sugar Robinson, alias Oumarou Ganda dit: Le conteur . In: 7e Art . No. 42 , 1982, pp. 16-19 .
  • Maïzama Issa: Oumarou Ganda, cinéaste nigérien: un regard du dedans sur la société en transition (=  Environnement africain. Série Etudes et recherches . No. 136 ). Enda-édition, Dakar 1991.
  • Achille Kouawo: "Moi un Noir" - homage to Oumarou Ganda (Niger) . In: Catherine Ruelle (ed.): Afriques 50: Singularités d'un cinéma pluriel . L'Harmattan, Paris 2005, p. 281-284 .
  • Ange-Séverin Malanda: L'exil et le lointain: Homage to Oumarou Ganda . In: Présence Africaine . No. 119 , 1981, pp. 170-175 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Achille Kouawo: "Moi un Noir" - homage to Oumarou Ganda (Niger) . In: Catherine Ruelle (ed.): Afriques 50: Singularités d'un cinéma pluriel . L'Harmattan, Paris 2005, p. 281-284 .
personal data
SURNAME Ganda, Oumarou
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Nigerien film director, screenwriter and actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Niamey , Niger
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1981
Place of death Niamey , Niger