• Aouré

  • Bon Voyage, Sim

  • The Return of an Adventurer

  • Samba the Great

  • Kokoa



Pioneer of Nigerien Cinema: Short Films by Moustapha Alassane



There’s an insatiability to Alassane’s films.

Steve Macfarlane, Hyperallergic

The idiosyncratic work of Nigerien filmmaker Moustapha Alassane (1942–2015) ranges from animations and documentaries to ethnography-infused comedies and adaptations of African legends. His films share a playful, perceptive humor, as well as uniquely incisive commentary on modern Africa. Satires such as The Return of an Adventurer, in which young men play cowboys on the savanna, ridicule the westernized consumerism of the postcolonial generation, while the animated Bon voyage, Sim depicts a “toad republic” ruled by a venal president who gets overthrown. Alassane evokes the rich heritage of West African storytelling with Samba the Great, in which stop-motion puppets illustrate a griot’s narrative.
—Tal Gerechter

The program of Moustapha Alassane’s films is organized with Amélie Garin-Davet, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, New York, with special thanks to La Cinémathèque Afrique de l’Institut Français, and to Bérénice Reynaud, REDCAT.

Films in this Screening

Aouré

Moustapha Alassane, Niger, 1962

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • French
  • Hausa
  • with English e-titling
Print Info
  • Color
  • 16mm
  • 21 mins
source
  • La Cinémathèque Afrique de l’Institut Français

Bon voyage, Sim

Moustapha Alassane, Niger, 1966

FILM DETAILS 
Print Info
  • B&W
  • 16mm
  • 5 mins
source
  • La Cinémathèque Afrique de l’Institut Français

The Return of an Adventurer
(Le retour d'un aventurier)

Moustapha Alassane, Niger, 1966

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • French
  • Hausa
  • with English e-titling
Print Info
  • Color
  • 16mm
  • 34 mins
source
  • La Cinémathèque Afrique de l’Institut Français

Samba the Great
(Samba le grand)

Moustapha Alassane, Niger, 1977

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • French
  • with English e-titling
Print Info
  • Color
  • 16mm
  • 14 mins
source
  • La Cinémathèque Afrique de l’Institut Français

Kokoa

Moustapha Alassane, Niger, 2001

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • French
  • Hausa
  • with English titling
Print Info
  • Color
  • 35mm
  • 14 mins
source
  • La Cinémathèque Afrique de l’Institut Français