Educational Media Reviews Online

Lions, tigers and disco dancing photos??? Oh my! Often when thinking of Africa, we envision vast savannahs or dense tropical rainforests. When we think of African art we think of primitive stone carvings or wood masks. And when we think of African photography, we think of National Geographic wildlife photos. Malick Sibidé is a Malian photographer who first started snapping photos of the people around him back in the late 1950s. In this short film, he talks about his life and philosophy as a photographer. The documentary intersperses Monsieur Sidibé talking to an unseen interviewer. As Monsieur Sidibé answers each question, some of his photographs illuminating the points he is discussing are shown to the viewer. His photographs are definitely not about the landscape or the wildlife, unless you count the 1960s disco scene in Bamako. He won the prestigious Hasselblad Award in 2003 for his work capturing the societal changes happening in Mali during the 1950s and 1960s.

This is a short film that gives the viewer a brief look into Sibidé’s work and philosophy. It is not a full fledged biography or art review. The film is in French with English subtitles. Anyone with an interest in non-Western/African photography, African Studies or French will gain some information from this short charming interview.