Directed by Thierno Souleymane Diallo
In 1953, Mamadou Touré directed the film Mouramani, considered to be the first film by a French-speaking Black African director. However, the film is shrouded in mystery – no one knows where to find a copy, or if one even exists. Seventy years later, when the young Guinean director Thierno Souleymane Diallo set out in search of this lost treasure of cinematic history, he prepared himself for two possible outcomes: If he managed to find a copy of Mamadou Touré's film, he would organise a screening in Conakry, the Guinean capital. If he couldn’t find a copy of the film, he would make his own remake of Mouramani. The Cemetery of Cinema is a road movie that follows Souleymane, as he crisscrosses Guinea, camera in hand, as he investigates the cinematic history of his country and the meaning of cinema in general – for filmmakers as well as audiences.
After studying at the Art University of Guinea (ISAG) in Dubréka, Thierno Souleymane Diallo continued his education in Niger at a master's degree program specialising in creative documentary and in a further degree program in documentary cinema in Senegal. He currently works for Guinean television. After completing several short films as a student, Souleymane’s mid-length documentary Un homme pour ma famile was released in 2015, followed by Nô Mëtî Sîfâdhe in 2018. The Cemetery of Cinema, Souleymane’s first feature documentary, had its world premiere at the Berlinale in 2023. Since then, the film has screened at numerous top international festivals, including IDFA and Hot Docs.
