N'Diaye: Cinema has no nationality

CAIRO – 8 March 2020: The ninth edition of Luxor African Film Festival organized a number of important cinematic events on March 8, including a press conference for African star Maimouna N'Diaye.

In the press conference, LAFF’s artistic director Azza el-Hosseiny said that N'Diaye is one of the most credible filmmakers that can talk about women issues, praising her role in tackling African women's issues especially and women generally.

On the occasion of International Women's Day, the famed star said that educating men builds a family while educating women builds a country.

N'Diaye expressed that she is both happy and proud to be participating in the ninth edition of Luxor African Film Festival as a jury member, declaring her love for Egypt and Umm Kuthum and revealing that her teacher was Egyptian.

N'Diaye added that she produced movies to solve people’s problems and chose to play roles that tackle women's issues and problems and reflect their strength, adding that cinema is not only for entertainment but also for changing reality.

The African star said that her first movie and the last one are the closest to her heart.

She clarified that she dreams to participate in a movie with no nationality because cinema has no nationality; it is a global language, like music.

N'Diaye added that she tried to change the traditional image of women in her latest movie "Eye on the Storm".




Jean-Louis and Maimouna N'Diaye received an honorary trophy at the festival's opening ceremony which was be held at Luxor Temple.

The festival’s management has chosen the African star Maimouna N'Diaye to be paid tribute during the 9th edition of the festival for her lifetime achievements and contributions to African cinema, as well as being a member of the jury for the long narrative competition.


Maimouna is one of the most prominent stars in African cinema, and one of the most talented actresses in the continent, she gained recognition for her role in “Eye of the Storm”, and was the only African member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival’s official competition, and she’s a multi-talented star, for she’s an amazing actress in France and Africa, as well as a documentary and narrative film director, and a social activist, especially for the issues of women and children.

Maimouna was born in France to Senegalese father, she grew up in Guinea before returning to France to study medicine at 18 years old, and that’s where she was attracted to theatre and studied performing arts at Le Sorbonne, where she studied further into the field.

Her real breakout in the world of theatre started in Côte d'Ivoire, where she joined the Yamako Tatary Company in 1995, a company that has a clear mission of spreading awareness towards health and social issues. She acted on stage and in film in Côte d'Ivoire for 10 years, before starting her career as a documentary director. She moved to Burkina Faso in 2005 where she continued her work in the field of theatre before breaking into film in Senegal, Guinea and Burkina Faso.

Of her prominent plays “Butterfly Chasers” in 1992, “A Garden in Autumn” in 2005, “Movement” in 1997, “High School or Marriage”, as well as many short films including “A Plate of Love”, and a very prominent role in the film “Eye of the Storm”, which won many awards at FESPACO 2015, she was awarded the best actress for that film, and she voiced a character in the French animation film “Kirikou and the Sorceress” in 1998, which was translated to various languages including Japanese, and it gained over 20 awards from around the world, she has made several documentaries that are very prominent in her career including “Warbassaga” which covered the life of the Ivoirian Dancer “Warbassaga”, as well as “Slices of Life” in 2008, which portrayed different characters and images of the tragedies in Côte d'Ivoire between 2002 – 2004, she also directed the opening ceremony of the FESPACO in 2009.