Portal:African cinema/DYK/47

Abderrahmane Sissako

Rafiki a 2018 Kenyan film about a romance between two women was banned by the Kenya Film Classification Board due to its homosexual theme. The film's director, Wanuri Kahiu, sued the government, and won, to allow the film to be screened and become eligible to be submitted as Kenya's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In 2015, Timbuktu directed by Abderrahmane Sissako became the first film by a Mauritanian director to win the César Award, considered the highest film honor in France. It won seven awards out of its eight nominations setting the record for being the African film with the most awards ever at the ceremony. It is also the first Mauritanian film to be nominated for an Oscar.

Djibouti-Canadian film director and screenwriter Lula Ali Ismaïl is the first woman from Djibouti to produce a film, earning her the nickname "the first lady of theDjibouti cinema”.