Moustapha Alassane

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.

Roles

Director

Born

1 January 1942, Niger

Died

17 March 2015

On Pheelm

1 film directed, 1972

Link

IMDb