Abdoul Aziz Cissé began his artistic career at an early age, progressing through literature, music, plastic arts and theatre before ending up in the cinema. Abdoul Azíz Cissé conducts research on the role and current state of cinema in African society which has led him to work with a wide range of institutions and organisations which help to promote images in Senegal. This is how he made his first film "Bët Gaal" in 2001, a short documentary on the importance of canoes for the lives of fishermen in Saint-Louis. This film won te prize for the best documentary picture in the 2004 ?Image and Life Festival? and will be broadcast by the French speaking television channel TV5.

In 2002 he worked with the ANAFA NGO (National Association for Literacy and Adult Education) to produce eight documentaries.

Throughout this co-operation in 2007 he worked with PALAE (Pan African Association for Literacy and Adult Education) to make a short documentary called "Transforming Education" which tells the story of literacy projects for peasants in Senegal so that they will not become prey to the public servants in charge of selling their crops.

In 2006 and 2007, he worked with the ENDA TIERS MUNDO NGO making a collection of four documentary films: "The Water Challenge" which is about the problems of poor people gaining access to drinking water in large cities such as Dakar (Senegal), Bamako (Mali), Nouakchott (Mauritania) and Cotonou (Benin).

He also works with many plastic artists to build up the ties that bond cinema with plastic arts.

His latest film, "La bréche", made in late 2007 is the result of working together with the Belgian Film Festival "Filmer à tout prix", the Média Centre in Dakar, The National School of Arts in Dakar and with co-operation from the Walloon region, shows the devastating environmental disaster which has been occurring in silence since 2003 in the Senegal river valley in Saint-Louis, in the north of the country.


Abdoul Aziz Cissé was born in Senegal. He studied filmmaking at the Centre Daniel Brottier de Saint-Louis and philosophy at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar. His documentaries include Bët gaal (01), Ombres et lumières (2003), Educ'art (2004), Alfanet (2004), Djikoroni, visite guide (2007), La brèche (2007) and The Walls of Dakar (2012), co-directed with Wagane Guéye.

Source:
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2012/wallsofdakar