Directed by Moustapha Alassane

Directed by Moustapha Alassane

6 Episodes

A playfully subversive trailblazer of African cinema, Niger-born Moustapha Alassane created a charmingly lo-fi, irreverently imaginative world all his own. Featuring cartoon frogs, Wild West–style African cowboys, stop-motion puppets, and folkloric heroes, his often witty, iconoclastic fables take satiric aim at postcolonial politics and government corruption—calling out abuse of power wherever he saw it. Working across animation, narrative, experimental, and ethnographic filmmaking, he collaborated with renowned figures like animator Norman McLaren and documentarian Jean Rouch, but his style was all his own, unbeholden to Eurocentric conventions and steeped in Nigerien tradition and lore.

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Directed by Moustapha Alassane

6 Episodes

  • Return of an Adventurer
    35:00
    Return of an Adventurer
    Episode 1

    Return of an Adventurer

    Episode 1

    Directed by Moustapha Alassane • 1966 • Niger, France
    Starring Harouna Diarra, Djingarey Abdoulaye Maïga, Zalika Souley

    The Wild West comes to Africa in this raucous send-up of cultural colonialism—an influence on Djibril Diop Mambety’s TOUKI BOUKI—in which a young Nigerien man returns home from...

  • The Cowboys Are Black
    13:58
    The Cowboys Are Black
    Episode 2

    The Cowboys Are Black

    Episode 2

    Directed by Serge Moati • 1966 • France

    A making-of documentary chronicles the behind-the-scenes anarchy of Moustapha Alassane’s African western RETURN OF AN ADVENTURER.

  • Bon voyage, Sim
    04:53
    Bon voyage, Sim
    Episode 3

    Bon voyage, Sim

    Episode 3

    Directed by Moustapha Alassane • 1966 • Niger

    A sly political satire realized through charming hand-drawn animation, BON VOYAGE SIM features one of director Moustapha Alassane’s many beloved cartoon frogs as Monsieur Sim, the president of the Republic of Toads, who faces a crisis when he returns...

  • Samba the Great
    14:07
    Samba the Great
    Episode 4

    Samba the Great

    Episode 4

    Directed by Moustapha Alassane • 1977 • Niger

    An imaginative mix of watercolor and stop-motion animation brings to life the legend of a folkloric hero who sets out on a daring quest to prove his love to a princess.

  • The Death of Gandji
    04:56
    The Death of Gandji
    Episode 5

    The Death of Gandji

    Episode 5

    Directed by Moustapha Alassane • 1965 • Canada

    This short animated fable unfolds in a kingdom of frogs threatened by a monster.

  • Kokoa
    13:58
    Kokoa
    Episode 6

    Kokoa

    Episode 6

    Directed by Moustapha Alassane • 2001 • Niger

    In this colorful stop-motion animation with a satirical edge, a carnival of animals—including a frog, a chameleon, and a bird—compete in a wild wrestling match.

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