Conakry Express

Born in Bamako (Mali).
Manthia Diawara has collaborated with celebrated author Ngûgî wa Thiong’o in making the documentary SEMBENE OUSMANE: THE MAKING OF AFRICAN CINEMA, and directed the German-produced documentary ROUCH IN REVERSE. In addition, Diawara has recently produced and directed BAMAKO : SIGI KAN, an intimate look at his hometown. Dr. Diawara is also Director of NYU’s Institute of Afro-American Affairs and Director of the Africana Studies Program. A native of Mali, he received his education in France and later traveled to the United States for his university studies. He has taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Black-American Cinema: Aesthetics and Spectatorship (1993), African Cinema: Politics and Culture (1992), and In Search of Africa (1998). He has published widely on the topic of film and literature of the Black Diaspora. —Africulture