Sidney Sokhona (born 1952) is a

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

n filmmaker and politician.

Life

Sokhona shot his first feature film, ''Nationality: Immigration'', from 1972 to 1975 as an immigrant in Paris. The film hybridised documentary and surreal fiction, with Sokhana himself playing the lead role of an immigrant living through a

rent strike A rent strike, sometimes known as a tenants strike or a renters strike, is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants agree to collectively withhold paying some or all of their rent to the ...

in the Rue Riquet. Sokhona wrote on

African cinema Cinema of Africa covers both the History of film, history and present of the Filmmaking, making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the ear ...

for '' Cahiers du Cinéma'', arguing that "Africa was colonized, and so is its cinema", and that African film-makers were beginning "to draw up battle plans for ...cinematic independence".'Notre cinéma', '' Cahiers du cinéma'', No. 285, February 1978. Trans. David Wilson as

Filmography

* ''Nationalité: Immigré'' ationality: Immigration 1975 * ''Safrana ou le droit à la parole '' afrana, or The Right to Speak 1977

Festivals / Awards

1976 , 5ème

FESPACO The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (, or FESPACO) is a film festival in Burkina Faso, held biennially in Ouagadougou, where the organization is based. It accepts for competition only films by African filmmakers and chief ...

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

, www.fespaco.bf * Prix spécial du jury (exaequo avec Sejnane, d’Abdellatif Ben Ammar, Tunisie) 1975 ,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

* Prix Georges Sadoul

References

External links

* 1952 births Living people Mauritanian film directors Mauritanian emigrants to France {{Mauritania-bio-stub