Souleymane Cissé, an award-winning writer and director who became the first Black African filmmaker to win the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, died on Wednesday in Bamako, Mali. He was 84.

REBECCA BLACKWELL. FILE - Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cisse films the arrival of mourners at a memorial service for Senegalese filmmaker Sembene Ousmane in Dakar, Senegal, June 11, 2007.

FILE - Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cisse films the arrival of mourners at a memorial service for Senegalese filmmaker Sembene Ousmane in Dakar, Senegal, June 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell ...

Celebrated Malian director Souleymane Cissé, who was the first sub-Saharan African director to win a major award at Cannes with 1987 Jury Prize winner Yeelen (Brightness), died Wednesday at the ...

Malian director Souleymane Cissé, the African cinema pioneer who over five decades gained prominence for works infused with deep humanism and political engagement, died on Wednesday. He was 84.

Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cisse films the arrival of mourners at a memorial service for Senegalese filmmaker Sembene Ousmane in Dakar, Senegal, June 11, 2007.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé, a pioneer of African cinema with a career spanning 50 years, has died ...

FILE - Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cisse films the arrival of mourners at a memorial service for Senegalese filmmaker Sembene Ousmane in Dakar, Senegal, June 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell ...

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé, a pioneer of African cinema with a career spanning 50 years, has died at age 84, Malian television announced Wednesday. The cause of ...

FILE - Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cisse films the arrival of mourners at a memorial service for Senegalese filmmaker Sembene Ousmane in Dakar, Senegal, June 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell ...