Moustapha Alassane
Born in N’Dougou, Niger, Alassane first took a degree in Mechanics. In Niamey, he learns cinematographic techniques with Jean Rouch, who helped him to go study animation with Norman Mclaren in Canada. He is one of the first filmmakers in Africa and made Niger a milestone in African Cinema. The first animated films in Sub-Saharan Africa are his.
The frog is the main character in his animations and highlights his satiric eye on the social habits of his country. He directed approximately thirty animations, documentaries and fiction films.
Retrospectives of his filmography have been presented in the most important festivals around the world. He led the Department of Cinema of the University of Niamey, for fifteen years, and was awarded the French Legion of Honour during the Cannes Film Festival of 2007.
Filmography
As director
1962: La Bague du roi Koda
1962: Aoure
1962: La Pileuse de Mil
1962: Le piroguier
1963: La mort du Gandji
1964: L’arachide de Santchira
1966: Le Retour d'un aventurier
1966: Bon voyage Sim
1967: Malbaza
1969: Les contre Bandiers
1970: Deela ou Albarka
1971: Jamyya
1972: FVVA: Femme, voiture, villa, argent
1972: Abimbola ou Shaki
1973: Siberi
1974: Soubane
1974: Toula ou Le génie des eaux
1975: Zaboa
1978: Samba le grand
1982: Agwane mon Village
1982: Kankamba ou le semeur de discorde
1982: Gourimou
2000: Soolo
2000: Adieu Sim
2001: Les magiciens de l'Ader
2001: Agaissa
2001: Kokoa
2003: Tagimba
As actor
Petit à petit - Moustaphe (1971)
L'Étoile noire (1976) index +
Toula ou le génie des eaux (1973)
The gods have declared the drought of the country. There seems to be no hope. A holy man summoned by the king requires the sacrifice of a young woman to put an end to their anger. A young man in love decides to go in search of water to save the girl from a tragic end, but when he returns with good news it's too late: the genie had his satisfaction and Toula has already disappeared in the holy swamp. More
Femmes Voitures Villas Argent (1972)
The frantic search for consumer goods by the low middle classes of the African cities.Ali is a modest civil servant who enjoys a pleasant life in town. One day, upon being forced by his parents to marry a woman he doesn't want, Ali is dragged into a vortex composed by “Women (Femmes), Cars (Voitures), Villas, Money (Argent)” all of which, in Niger, stand for social success. Longing for an increasingly luxurious way of life, in order to support habits he himself created, Ali is forced to steal and is arrested. More
