Souleymane Cissé

Souleymane Cissé (21 April 1940 – 19 February 2025) was a Malian film director, regarded as one of the first generation of African filmmakers. He was called "Africa's greatest living filmmaker" while his film Yeelen has been called "conceivably the greatest African film ever made". He was the first director from sub-Saharan Africa to receive an award, at the Cannes Film Festival in 1987, for “Yeelen”, he was awarded the Golden Coach in 2023.