Popular African Filmmaker Mahama Johnson Traore Dies in Paris

Director Mahama Johnson Traoré © Monique Phoba, 2009..

One of Africa’s foremost filmmakers, Mahama Johnson Traore of Senegal died Monday morning in Paris after a protracted illness. He was 68 years old.
Johnson Traore was one of the founders of the Pan-African Cinema Festival (FESPACO) held biennially in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He was also the Secretary-General of the Pan-African Federation of Film-makers in the 1970s.
He was trained in France and shot his first film, “Diankha-bi” (The Maiden, in Wolof) in 1968.

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

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