Ababacar Samb Makharam

Ababacar Samb Makharam (also Ababacar Samb-Makharam or Samb for short, Dakar, Senegal, 1934 – Dakar, 1987) was a Senegalese filmmaker, actor, screen writer and film producer with his own company Baobab Films.[1][2][3][4][5]

Ababacar Samb Makharam
Born(1934-10-21)October 21, 1934
Dakar
DiedOctober 7, 1987(1987-10-07) (aged 52)
Dakar
NationalitySenegalese
Occupation(s)Film director, actor, camera operator, screen writer, and film producer.
Notable workKodou, 1971; Jom (ou L'Histoire d'un peuple), 1982.
AwardsPrix Georges Sadoul

Biography

Born in Dakar, Samb Makharam was a pupil of the Navy school Centre de Formation Professionnelle de la Marine de Dakar in 1950–1951 and worked in a law firm (1952–1953).[3] He then left for Paris in France and attended the École française de radioélectricité Rue Amyot (1954–1955, now EFREI Paris). From 1955 up to 1958 Samb Makharam trained as an actor at the Centre d’Art Dramatique de la Rue Blanche in Paris[2] and performed in the movies Tamango (1957) directed by John Berry and Les Tripes au soleil (1958) by Claude Bernard-Aubert.

In 1955 he founded the Paris theater group Les Griots uniting various Antillean and African actors such as Timité Bassori, Toto Bissainthe, Robert Liensol (fr) and Sarah Maldoror. From 1959 to 1962 Samb Makharam was a cinema student film at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (Experimental Film Centre) in Rome, after which he travelled in the United States for further study (1962–1963).[3] He returned to France to join the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF) as an assistant director for television.

On returning to Senegal in 1964, Samb Makharam worked for the Ministry of Information there,[2] was a cameraman with the Senegalese TV news,[4] and served as a director and producer at Radio Sénégal (Dakar).[3] In 1965 he directed his first feature film Et la neige n’etait plus / There Was No Longer Snow, followed by Kodou in 1971. Samb Makharam served as the Secretary General of the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI) from 1971 to 1977.[4] He pioneered a new style with a timeless role for the traditional Senegalese griot in his 1982 movie Jom ou L'Histoire d'un Peuple (Jom or the History of a People).[6]

In October 1987 Samb Makharam passed away in Dakar at the age of 52.[4]

Theater

Between 1955 and 1964 Samb Makharam performed as an actor in various productions of his Paris theater group Les Griots:[3]

PlayAuthorDirector
L'ombre de La Ravine
(In the Shadow of the Glen, 1903)		John Millington SyngeRoger Blin
La Fille des Dieux (1958)Abdou Anta Ka or KâRoger Blin
Huis-Clos (1944)Jean Paul SartreRoger Blin
Papa Bon Dieu (1958)Louis SapinMichel Vitold

Filmography

Samb Makharam's films include:[3][7]

YearFilmDescriptionRoleDuration
1957TamangoFeature film directed by John Berry. Historical drama about a failed slave rebellion on a slave ship.Actor98 minutes
1958Les Tripes au Soleil (fr)Feature by Claude Bernard-Aubert. Dramatic comedy about racial segregation and romantic love with a happy ending.Actor125 m
1961L'Ubriaco (L'Ivresse)Short film, love story. Final exam film at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Rome.Screen writer, film director5m 34s[5] or 6m[8]
1966Et la neige n'était plus / There Was No Longer Snow... (fr)Short, drama. After completing his studies in France a young Senegalese evaluates his past and future on return to his country.[9] First Prize (Grand Prix) at the World Festival of Black Arts (Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres).Screen writer, film director22 m
1968La Terre et le PaysanShort, black and white documentary.Screen writer, film director
1971Kodou (fr)[10]Feature, drama. Kodou, a young girl flaunts the traditions when she flees a lip tattooing ceremony. Her family is discredited and Kodou goes insane, preying on young children. When a European psychiatrist cannot cure Kodou, her parents subject her to a traditional exorcism session. Prix Georges-Sadoul (fr), France.Screen writer, film director100 m
1982Jom ou L'Histoire d'un peuple (Jom or the History of a people, fr)Feature drama with an important role for the griot Khaly who exhorts striking workers. He explains them that the traditional Jom – a Wolof word for self esteem – is the source of all virtues. It includes the resistance to any oppression, be it by the enslaving colonizer or by the factory employer Mr. Diop.[6]Screen writer, film director, producer80 m

References
  1. Samb Sall, Ghaël, ed. (2022). Ababacar Samb Makharam : maître d'oeuvre et esthète du cinéma panafricain. Les grands cineastes panafricains (in French). Dakar: Vives voix. ISBN 9782958034252. OCLC 1390768387.
  2. Armes, Roy (2008). Dictionary of African Filmmakers. Bloomington et Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. p. 116. ISBN 0-253-35116-2.
  3. "Ababacar Samb Makharam Réalisateur/trice, Acteur/trice, Producteur/trice, Scénariste". africine.org (in French). Fédération africaine de la critique cinématographique (FACC). 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2023. Né le 21 octobre 1934 à Dakar (Sénégal), Ababacar SAMB Makharam est un acteur (Théâtre & Cinéma), réalisateur, scénariste et producteur (avec sa société Baobab Films).
  4. "Jom by Ababacar Samb-Makharam". africanfilmny.org. May 12, 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  5. Barlet, Olivier (22 December 2021). "Dakar court 2021 : penser le court métrage". Africultures (in French). Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  6. "Jom by Ababacar Samb-Makharam". africanfilmny.org. May 12, 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  7. Ababacar Samb-Makharam at IMDb. International Movie Database. Consulted on 10 August 2023.
  8. "Ubriaco (L') (L'Ivresse)". africine.org (in French). 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2023. Petite histoire d'amour et des questionnements existenciels dans le film de fin d'études d'Ababacar Sam Makharam au Centro sperimentale di cinematografia de Rome.
  9. "Et la neige n'était plus. E Não Havia Mais Neve... [Brésil]". africine.org (in French). 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2023. Un jeune boursier sénégalais revient de France. Qu'a-t-il appris ? qu'a-t-il oublié ?
  10. "Ababacar Samb Makharam, 62e Semaine de la Critique Cannes 2023". semainedelacritique.com. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  • Et la neige n'était plus... (Ababacar Samb-Makharam,1965) [Eng Subs] on YouTube (There Was No Longer Snow). Video duration 20m 57s. French spoken with subtitles in English. Uploader Not That Anonymous. Consulted on 10 August 2023. Final question of a Senegalese girl: "Why isn't there black snow?" The student in love answers: "It doesn't exist, but if you like, i'll make some for you."
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