Sotigui Kouyaté

Acting

Sotigui Kouyaté

Born — Died

1936-07-19 — 2010-04-17

Place of birth

Bamako, Mali

Known for

Acting

Credits

40 titles

An African griot and actor of film and stage who made a name for himself in European productions, Sotigui Kouyaté (19 July 1936 – 17 April 2010) was one of the first Malian, Burkinabé actors. He was a member of the Mandinka ethnic group, and father of film director Dani Kouyaté, of storyteller Hassane Kassi Kouyaté and of actor Mabô Kouyaté.

Known for

Film credits

2000s · 9 titles

Dirty Pretty Things poster
6.9

An undocumented immigrant finds a human heart in one of the toilets of the west London hotel where he works with other undocumented immigrants.

Dirty Pretty Things

2002

The Truth About Charlie poster
4.9

Regina meets charming Joshua while vacationing in Martinique, as she contemplates ending her whirlwind marriage to enigmatic Charlie. Upon her return to Paris, she finds that both her apartment and her bank account have been emptied, and her husband has been murdered. Stuck in ever-increasing danger and with four men pursuing her, another stranger offers assistance - but who can she trust?

The Truth About Charlie

2002

The Ring Finger poster
5.4

When she is slightly hurt in the factory where she works, Iris quits her job and finds a new one as an assistant in a laboratory of a very peculiar kind. Without fully grasping what is at play around her, she gradually engages in a disturbing love affair with her enigmatic employer.

The Ring Finger

2005

Genesis poster
6.2

An African narrator tells the story of earth history, the birth of the universe and evolution of life. Beautiful imagery makes this movie documentary complete.

Genesis

2004

London River poster
6.7

After traveling to London to check on their missing children in the wake of the 2005 terror attacks on the city, two strangers come to discover their respective children had been living together at the time of the attacks

London River

2009

Little Senegal poster
6.3

Fascinated by the history of his people, Alloune, an old guide at the African museum "La Maison des Esclaves" in Gorée, sets off on a pilgrimage to find the descendants of his ancestors in the United States. This moving journey takes him from the coast of South Carolina to the Harlem neighborhood of Little Senegal, home to the African community. Driven by the idea of reuniting his family across centuries and borders, Alloune traces his roots to a distant cousin, Ida, who knows nothing of his past. The old man also crosses paths with his nephew Hassan, a clandestine cab driver, his fiancée Biram, Eileen, pregnant and a runaway, and Karim, who is seeking a sham marriage to obtain a green card. All four misunderstand Alloune's quest.

Little Senegal

2001

Brook by Brook poster
8.0

An intimate portrait of director Peter Brook by his son, Simon Brook.

Brook by Brook

2002

Faro: Goddess of the Waters poster
6.0

Faro is a real goddess of a real tribe (the Bamana) in the West African country of Mali. In a landlocked country like Mali, covered in part by the Sahara Desert, water is a resource that can never be taken for granted. The Bamana village in Faro: Goddess of the Waters not only sits on a riverbank, but also depends for much of its food on fish from the river. Faro is the dominant character in this film, the unseen force for which all action takes place. (c) Ferdy on Films [Marilyn Ferdinand]

Faro: Goddess of the Waters

2007

Sia, the Myth of the Python poster
5.9

Kaya Maghan, the despotic king of Wagadou, follows the instructions of his priest by ordering the religious sacrifice to the Python God of Sia Yatabaree, the virgin daughter of a notable family. A gift of gold equivalent to Sia’s weight is given to her family as compensation for surrendering their daughter for the sacrifice. However, Sia runs away and finds shelter in the home of a mad prophet who has railed against the king. The king orders his top general to locate Sia, but the general is conflicted since Sia was engaged to marry his nephew, Mamadi, who is in battle on behalf of the kingdom. Mamadi returns and joins his uncle to do battle against the Python God. - Wikipedia, accessed 31 July 2021

Sia, the Myth of the Python

2001

1990s · 17 titles

The Sheltering Sky poster
6.5

An American couple drift toward emptiness in postwar North Africa.

The Sheltering Sky

1990

The Mahabharata poster
7.1

Jealousy and hatred is what separates the Pandavas and Kauravas. The Kauravas fear the Pandavas are after the throne of their father. Yudhishthira of the Pandavas gets told by the deity, Krishna, that he will become king. A war is inevitable.

The Mahabharata

1990

The African Woman poster
10.0

A dying woman, who stole her best friend's lover, is convinced that a spell has been cast on her, so she orchestrates her former friend's return from a self-imposed exile in Africa in the hopes of breaking the spell.

The African Woman

1990

On the Edge poster
4.0

A man. A woman. A single night in Paris. Such is the basic framework of this French romance that begins when middle-aged middle-class housewife Clara, happily drives to the airport to meet her husband who was supposed to come in on the evening flight and is devastated to learn that he has remained at his hotel and is having an affair. Clara sees a younger man eating a sandwich and asks him to have a drink. Later, she and he, an amiable baggage handler, spend the evening talking and exploring the nightlife on the outskirts of Paris. There they meet many people from other countries who come to Paris and work as laborers.

On the Edge

1995

IP5: The Island of Pachyderms poster
6.1

Young graffiti artist Tony and his friend Jockey jump-start an unexpected adventure on the streets of Grenoble, France, when they steal a car that's already occupied by an older man who's been sleeping in the back, Léon Marcel.

IP5: The Island of Pachyderms

1992

Lost in Transit poster
6.6

A traveller who has lost his passport in a Paris airport while between flights is restricted to a special transit zone. There he finds a group of similarly lost people hiding out and living from hand-to-mouth, reliant on their ingenuity to survive.

Lost in Transit

1993

Mamy Wata poster
10.0

1968: Justin Ohounou is the Minister of the Interior Department. He is involved in scheming with a corrupt business man. His goal is to eliminate by all means his political enemy Christian Adegbe and all of the Adegbe Tribe.

Mamy Wata

1990

Genesis poster
6.3

Inspired by the book of Genesis, this film tells the power struggle between two families: a clan of herders led by Jacob and another clan of hunters fronted by his brother Esau. Caught in the crossfire is their cousin, Hamor and his tribe of farmers.

Genesis

1999

Golem, the Spirit of Exile poster
5.0

An allegory of the Golem, a Jewish mythical creature personifying displacement and exile, this film tells the story of a woman (similar to the biblical Ruth) and her sisters, who are forced into exile after the death of their husbands. It is set in 1990s Paris, where the director was living in self-imposed exile following the ban on his 1982 documentary in Israel. The recurring theme of the film is migrations and unrooting, like the legendary Golem.

Golem, the Spirit of Exile

1992

Names Live Nowhere poster
4.4

A Senegalese storyteller travels to Belgium and observes the lives of African expatriates in Europe. Dreams and struggles great and small are explored.

Names Live Nowhere

1994

Keita! The Voice of the Griot poster
6.6

It is an ordinary afternoon for young Mabo Keïta, at home, in Burkina Faso (West Africa). While his parents are taking a nap, he reads a schoolbook on the front porch when a stranger - an elderly man carrying his own hammock - appears for an unexpected visit. It turns out that the old man is a griot, a West African musician/entertainer whose performances include tribal histories and genealogies. The position of a griot is a time-honored one and passed down from father to son for many generations.

Keita! The Voice of the Griot

1996

Le Dur Métier de policier poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Le Dur Métier de policier

1995

Wendemi poster
8.0

When Cecile (Sylvie Yameogo), an unwed mother-to-be, refuses to identify the father of her child, she is thrown out of her parents' home and eventually leaves her baby in a field, where another family finds him and takes him home. Michel (Alassane Dakissaga), the head of the household, reluctantly assumes responsibility for the baby after going to the police, the local priest and the traditional village chief, each of whom advises him to seek the counsel of another authority.

Wendemi

1993

La Plante Humaine poster
8.5

No synopsis available yet.

La Plante Humaine

1996

Bad Kid poster
8.0

The struggles of a 28-year-old mother in Lyon who tries to combine her love life and raising her 12-year-old rebel son.

Bad Kid

1995

Sotigui Kouyaté, a modern griot poster
NR

Through testimonies by Peter Brook, Jean-Claude Carriere, Jean-Pierre Guigane, and Sotigui Kouyate himself, SOTIGUI KOUYATE: A MODERN GRIOT dresses the portrait of one of Africa's greatest actor now based in Paris. From Africa to Europe, the film unveils the multiple facets of Sotigui Kouyate, actor, musician and modern griot.

Sotigui Kouyaté, a modern griot

1996

A Civilized People poster
7.0

Lebanese director Randa Chahal Sabbag spins this bleak war drama about the brutal absurdity of the urban warfare of Beirut during the 1980s. Opening with the shocking image of kittens being blown apart, the film loosely follows the travails of Bernadette (Nada Ghosn), a naïve country girl sent to the city as a maid for a mansion long since abandoned by the owners. There she meets Therese (Renee Dick), a veteran house cleaner who takes her under her wing. One day, while accompanying her friend to the cemetery, she meets a rakish Arab militiaman, and the two fall in love.

A Civilized People

1999

1980s · 8 titles

Descent Into Hell poster
4.9

The marriage of the famous writer Alan and his young wife Lola is in a crisis. On a vacation in Haiti Lola wants to decide if their relationship still has a future...

Descent Into Hell

1986

How Good the Whites Are poster
6.6

The humanitarian aid expedition "Angeles Azules" (Blue Angels), comprising twelve Europeans and six trucks loaded with provisions to alleviate hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa, advances across the continent. As a result of the difficulties the team encounters, disorganization gradually takes over the convoy. Each of the members of the group, little by little, yield to their petty, selfish impulses: violence, power, nostalgia - The breakdown of one of the trucks forces Michele and Nadia to wait at an oasis for the arrival of spare parts. But a starving local tribe settles threateningly near them. The chief of the tribe makes a speech they don't understand, which is followed by a macabre purification ceremony.

How Good the Whites Are

1988

Black Mic Mac poster
5.7

This is a charming and successful farce from director Thomas Gilou, featuring a witty screenplay co-authored by producer Monique Annaud. When a group of African squatters in Paris are threatened with eviction, they find themselves fighting against a bureaucracy that few French citizens understand, let alone immigrants. In desperation, they turn to their best option to resolve this dilemma: they call for a sorcerer from home. The sorcerer hops on a jet to Paris to cast spells on the entrenched bureaucrat, and while en route he strikes up a conversation with a fellow passenger, mentioning his job pays quite well. The interested passenger could stand to make a few extra francs, so he decides to take the sorcerer's place. Once he arrives, this imposter has to act like he knows what he is doing, and at the same time, he had better solve the eviction problem.

Black Mic Mac

1986

The Courage of Others poster
8.0

An inside look at slavery in the country of Burkina Faso, The Courage Of Others follows the journey of a slave (played by Sotigui Kouyaté) being taken across the African desert by his captors.

The Courage of Others

1982

Paweogo poster
6.3

Bila, a young peasant, decides to go to Ivory Coast to work and is asked by his parents to accompany Pogbi who is going to meet her fiancé, through an arranged marriage, for the first time. However, Pogbi is in love with Rasmane, a pariah from the smiths' caste, and runs away.

Paweogo

1982

La Princesse Yennega poster
NR

Yennenga was a legendary princess and a famous warrior, considered to be the mother of the Mossi people of Burkina Faso who lived between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries. The cut-out paper animation is an adaptation of a tale by Bila Kaboré.

La Princesse Yennega

1986

Days of Torment poster
7.5

Young people call into question their village's customs and create an agricultural co-operative.

Days of Torment

1985

No artwork available
7.0

A Film by Jean Rouch and Tam-Sir Doueb.

Boulevards d'Afrique

1989

1970s · 2 titles

Series credits