Moustapha Alassane
Biography
Moustapha Alassane (1942–17 March 2015) was a Nigerien filmmaker. Born in 1942 in N’Dougou (Niger), Moustapha Alassane graduated in mechanics. However, in the Rouch IRSH in Niamey he learned the cinematographic technique and thereafter became one of its main proponents. Jean Rouch provided for Alassane's education and accommodation in Canada, where he met the famous Norman McLaren, who taught him about animation. He was the creator of the first animated films of the sub-Saharan Africa, also directing documentaries and fiction films. He was Head of Cinema Department at the Niamey University for 15 years. Moustapha Alassane directed, in 1962, two shorts inspired in traditional tales: Aoure and La Bague du roi Koda. Representing African culture (e.g. in Deela ou el Barka le conteur, 1969 and Shaki, 1973), Alassane also employed moral satire (F.V.V.A., femme, villa, voiture, argent, 1972), denouncing the thirst for power for “new wealth” in Africa. Social criticism and black humour are in almost all of his films. Le Retour d'un aventurier (1966) is considered the first African western. The frog was his favourite animal and protagonist of most of his animated films, because Alassane believed it is funnier to animate frogs rather than humans. His workshop was based in Tahoua. To work, Alassane used several materials, such as wood, metal or wire, glue, fabric or sponge. Numerous retrospectives of Alassane's career have been made in several international film festivals. Moustapha Alassane was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.
Known For & Full Filmography4 Titles
Movie - 2008, 2h 15m • as Himself
Moustapha Alassane is a living legend in African cinema. His adventures take us to the era of “pre-cinema”, to the times of magical lantern and Chinese shadows. He is the first director of Nigerien cinema and animation films in Africa. He tells very old stories with current technology, but he also narrates the most current events with the most archaic means. This documentary not only tells the adventure of a human being and an extraordinary professional, but the memories of a generation, the history of a country, Niger, in its golden age of cinema.
Movie - 1970, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
An African travels to Paris to learn about the construction of tall buildings, but is soon taken up with the oddities of French life.
Movie - 1966, 2h 15m • as Self
One taxi driver, the other mechanics or masons. They drive a moped as Johnny Halliday and wear pants Zazous. During the weekend, they play in a real western with guns purchased at the supermarket, loaded with blanks. They love violence, their favorite actors are Edward G. Robinson and Glenn Ford. The heroine is selling at the Galerie du Niger. When the Nigerian filmmaker Mustapha Alassane turned the return of an adventurer, the first African western, Serge-Henri Moati wanted to make a film about film. The cowboys are turning black traces and proves at the same time the reality and fiction, film and life, sometimes extremely close, especially when it comes to the Wild West ..
Movie - 2014, 2h 15m • as Self
Tahar Cheriaa: Under the Shadow of the Baobab documents the career of one of the core fathers of Pan-Africanism and founder of Africa’s first film festival, the Carthage Film Festival. After Tunisian independence, Cheriaa used all his energy to bring the first authentic images of postcolonial Africa to broader audiences. The film depicts Cheriaa’s ideas and projects, with interviews and archival material creating a complete portrait of the man and his fight for both Sub-Saharan African cinema and African cinema as a whole.