The Cinema of Niger dates back to the 1940s, marked by French director, Jean Rouch’s ethnographic documentaries before emerging as one of the most active national film cultures in Francophone Africa in the 1960s-70s Filmmakers of this era included Oumarou Ganda, one of the dominating figures of early African cinema, Moustapha Alassane and Gatta Abdourahamne. Some of their notable early films include Ganda’s Cabascabo (1969) the first African selection at the Cannes Film Festival and Le Wazzou polygame, the grand prize winner at FESPACO in 1972; Alassane’s Le Retour d'un aventurier (1966), the social satire (WVCM: Woman, Villa, Car, Money; 1972) and Toula ou Le génie des eaux (Toula or the Genie of the Waters; 1974).
Nigerien filmmaking experienced a slowdown in the 1980s in part due to a decline in public financing coupled with the growth of lighter fare, notably action and romance films from the Hausa language film industry of neighbouring Nigeria. A new generation of filmmakers emerged during this period including Inoussa Ousseini (Wasan Kara, 1980), Moustapha Diop (Le médecin de Gafire, 1986; Mamy Wata, 1990) and Mahamane Bakabe (Si les cavaliers, 1982), and Mariama Hima, the country’s first female director, who won acclaim for documentaries such as Baabu Banza (1985). Among the more recent Nigerien directors making their mark include Rahmatou Keïta whose The Wedding Ring (2016) was the first Nigerien film to be submitted in the foreign language category at the Academy Awards.