In 2023, Cissé received the honorary prize Carrosse d'or at the Cannes Film Festival for his achievement, but as early as 1987, his film "Yeelen" (in Swedish "The Magical Light") became the first African film to win a prize at the festival when it received the jury prize. His film "The Bearer" had already been shown in Swedish cinemas.
The films depict with magic and symbolism, like most of Cissé's works, the turning point between traditional life and the modern world in rural Mali.
Cissé was born in Mali's capital Bamako in 1940, where he also died at a hospital. He visited Sweden several times, including in connection with the Cinemafrica film festival in Stockholm in 2016.
Souleymane Cissé was 84 years old.
