African Filmmakers Who Have Won the Palme d'Or, Grand Prix, Jury Prize and other Prizes at the Cannes Film Festival

African Filmmakers Who Have Won the Palme d'Or, Grand Prix, Jury Prize and  other Prizes at the Cannes Film Festival

The first and only African film so far to win the Palme d'Or was “Chronicle of the Years of Fire”, 1975 by  Algerian Filmmaker, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina.
The film, a three-hour saga dramatized the socio-political conditions leading up to the 1954 Algerian War of Independence against French colonial rule. It remains a landmark moment as the only African and Arab production to win the prize.
Another African from Tunisia also won the Palme d'Or, Abdellatif Kechiche, regarded as Tunisian-French.  His romantic drama "Blue Is the Warmest Colour" won the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. But it is a French film and not an African film.

Mati Diop (Senegal/France): Made history in 2019 by becoming the first Black woman to have a film in the main competition, where she won the Grand Prix (the festival's second-most prestigious award) for her haunting drama Atlantics.

Idrissa Ouédraogo (Burkina Faso): Won the Grand Prix in 1990 for his critically acclaimed feature film Tilaï (The Law), which explores the clash between strict tribal traditions and personal desires.

Souleymane Cissé (Mali): Captured the Jury Prize (the third-highest honor) in 1987 for Yeelen (Brightness), a visually striking fantasy film rooted in Bambara mythology.

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad): Awarded the Jury Prize in 2010 for his moving father-son drama A Screaming Man (Un homme qui crie).
And his 2013 film "Grigris" was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festiva

South African films have also competed at the Cannes and Elaine Proctor's "Friends" won the Caméra d'Or at the1993 Cannes Film Festival.

The following African films have won the top prizes in the Un Certain Regard.
"A Thousand Months" (Mille mois) by Faouzi Bensaidi of Morocco won Prix le Premier Regard in 2003.
"Moolaadé" by the Father of African Cinema, Ousmane Sembène of Senegal won the Prix Un Certain Regard in 2004.
"Delwende" by S. Pierre Yameogo of Burkina Faso won the Prix de L'espoir in 2005.

See the African Filmmakers in the Diaspora  who have won Palme d’Or and other prizes at the Cannes Film Festival on
https://lnkd.in/eDpzGY_Q

Photos:
Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina, Palme d’or – Chronique des années de braise – Ann Margret
.https://lnkd.in/eyE5WamJ

Mati Diop (Senegal/France): Made history in 2019 became the first Black woman to have a film in the main competition, where she won the Grand Prix (the festival's second-most prestigious award) for her haunting drama "Atlantics".

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From Mati Diop To Alice Diop: Two French Senagalese Female Filmmakers Who Have Made History

From Mati Diop To Alice Diop: Two French Senagalese Female Filmmakers Who Have Made History in Cannes and Venice

First it was Mati Diop, the French-Senegalese filmmaker whose first feature film "Atlantics" made her the first black female director to be in the Official Selection in competition for the Palme d'Or and won the Grand Prix equivalent of the silver prize at the 2019 annual Cannes Film Festival, making her the first black female director to win an award in Cannes' 72-year history. And another French Senegalese filmmaker, Alice Diop with the same surname has just made history as first black female filmmaker to win the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, for her first feature, "Saint Omer" and also the Lion of the Future LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS Venice Award for a debut film at the 79th annual Venice International Film Festival in 2022.

Mati Diop was born in Paris on June 22 in 1982 and Alice Diop was born in Aulnay-sous-Bois, France in 1979.

-  By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, Publisher/Editor, NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series.

The following is from an interview with Alice Diop on the making of "Saint Omer".

What led you to develop it as a narrative feature?

A documentary was never the plan. At the time, I was too busy with research, plus we couldn’t shoot in the courtroom and I would never [make the real participants] reenact the proceedings. Anyway, I wanted to recreate my experience of listening to another woman’s story while interrogating myself, facing my own difficult truths. The narrative had to trace a series of emotional states that can lead to catharsis. It’s like accelerated psychotherapy.  

https://variety.com/2022/film/festivals/venice-alice-diop-saint-omer-1235367521/