Moussa Bathily

Moussa Bathily
Born1946
Bakel, Senegal
OccupationFilm director, filmmaker, screen writer, novelist and history teacher
LanguageFrench, Soninke, Wolof
NationalitySenegalese
Notable worksfilms Tiyabu Biru (Circumcision, 1978) and Le Certificat d'indigence (Poverty Certificate, 1981)

Moussa Bathily (also Moussa Yoro Bathily, born in 1946) is a Senegalese history teacher, journalist, film director and producer, screen writer, and novelist.[1][2][3][4][5]

Biography

Born in Bakel, East Senegal, as the Soninke son of a provincial governor, Bathily studied at a French colonial school and at the Dakar Lycée Van Vollenhoven (later named Lamine-Guèye). Starting in 1968, he read history at the Cheikh Anta Diop University at Dakar and graduated on a thesis on Blaise Diagne, who was in 1914 the first West African member elected to the French Chamber of Deputies.[6] Bathily worked for three years as a history teacher in Rufisque, West Senegal, and wrote film reviews for the Dakar newspaper Le Soleil. Returning to Dakar he met filmmakers such as Djibril Diop Mambety and Mahama Johnson Traoré at the forerunner of the later Institut Français du Sénégal and started directing realist short films and documentaries, and later features.

Novels

Bathily published two novels in French:

  • Bathily, Moussa (1998). L'avenue des sables : roman [The sandy avenue] (in French). Châtenay-Malabry, France: Acoria: ACCT (Agence de coopération culturelle et technique), UNESCO. ISBN 9782912525208. OCLC 41269110.
  • Bathily, Moussa (2021). Blaise Diagne : l'honorable député : roman [Blaise Diagne: the respectable delegate] (in French). Dakar, Senegal: L'Harmattan Sénégal. ISBN 9782343220741. OCLC 1259366220.

Filmography

Bathily's films include:[1][2][4][5]

Year Film Genre Role Duration (min)
1974 Centre International de Dakar Documentary short Director 21 m
1975 FIDAK
(The International Fair of Dakar)		 Documentary short Director 20 m
1976 Des Personnages Encombrants[7]
(Obstructing characters)		 Short fiction Director 25 m
1976 N'dakaru. Impressions matinales
(Dakar Morning Impressions)		 Short Director and producer 20 m
1977 Ceddo by Ousmane Sembène Historical feature in French and Wolof Assistant director 120 m
1978 Tiyabu Biru (Circumcision) Drama feature in Soninke Director 85 m
1980 Dakar, Capitale et Ville Carrefour
(Dakar, capital and crossroad city)		 Documentary short Director
1981 Siggy. La Poliomyelite Docufiction on polio vaccination
for the United Nations		 Producer 40 m
1983 Le certificat d'indigence
(Poverty Certificate)		 Short Director and screen writer 29 m
1983 Des Sites et Des Monuments au Sénégal
(Sites and monuments in Senegal)		 Documentary Director 45 m
1987 Petits blancs au manioc et à la sauce gombos
(White Beans with Cassava or Gombo Sauce)		 Drama feature Director and co-screen writer
with Roger Grullemin		 90 m
1993 Biliyaane / L'Archer Bassari, after a crime novel
by Modibo Sounkalo Keita [fr]		 Drama feature Director and screen writer 90 m
2005 Atlantic Express Drama feature Director and producer 102 m

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b Armes, Roy (2008). Dictionary of African Filmmakers. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0253351166. OCLC 177009058.
  2. ^ a b "Moussa Yoro Bathily. Réalisateur/trice, Écrivain/ne, Scénariste". africine.org (in French). Fédération africaine de la critique cinématographique (FACC). 2020. Retrieved 2023-10-05. Né en 1946 à Bakel. Professeur d'histoire. Enseignant, écrivain, Moussa BATHILY est venu au cinéma. cinéaste
  3. ^ "Moussa Yoro Bathily". africultures.com (in French). Africultures. Les mondes en relation. 2019. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  4. ^ a b Moussa Bathily at IMDb
  5. ^ a b "Moussa Yoro Bathily. Biography. Senegal". africanfilmny.org. New York: African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF). Retrieved 17 September 2023. Moussa Yoro Bathily was born in 1946 in Bakel, Senegal. He made several provocative documentaries, including award-winning films Tiyabu Biru (Circumcision) in 1978, and Le Certificat d'indigence (1981). He also worked as an assistant to Ousmane Sembène.
  6. ^ Pfaff, 1988
  7. ^ "COURT Métrage 1976. Des Personnages Encombrants". Retrieved 2023-10-05. Les personnages d'un livre se révoltent contre leur créateur. (Translation: Book characters rebel against their author.)