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Balla Moussa Keïta is a Actor Malien born on 1934
Balla Moussa Keïta (1934 - March 6, 2001) was a Malian actor and comedian, and a West African cinema pioneer who was well known in the West (especially France). Born in the Ségou Region of Mali, he was originally a radio producer. He later turned to acting and acted in a number of movies by notable Mali directors like Cheick Oumar Sissoko, Souleymane Cissé and Abdoulaye Ascofaré. Among his critically acclaimed roles are those of the tribal king Rouma Boll in Yeelen and as Mambi in Guimba, un tyrant, une époque. He received the Best Male Interpretation award at the FESPACO for his role in the Guinean film Séré, le témoin.
Balla Moussa Keïta was born in Nango, Mali, a small village about 40 km from Ségou in 1934. Sent to school in Ségou at eight, Keïta's formal education came to an end after primary school when he returned home to help his parents in farming. On the death of his father, Keïta moved to Bamako to find work. Keïta initially worked as a middleman trader, buying fish and rice from Mopti and Dioro and reselling them in Bamako.
Career
In 1960, he managed to obtain a job with the National Theater (then under the Haut Commissariat à la jeunesse - the High Commission for Youth). Under the auspices of the Commissariat, Keïta recorded his first radio broadcast for Malian radio in 1967. Initially, Keïta recorded short advisories on bush fires and conduct of drivers. This ultimately led to the weekly program "Prévention et Circulation routière (Prevention and Road Traffic). Keïta thus became a well-known voice on the radio, and was popularly known as "Balla Moussa". He lent voice to numerous radio shows and newscasts during this period. His voice talents were utilized by government organizations like the AMP (Agence malienne de publicité) and the ANIM (Agence nationale d'information du Mali).
In 1965, Keïta travelled to the People's Republic of China with a Malian team to duplicate three films of socialist ideology in Bambara. The exercise lasted 5 months, but gave Keïta a valuable insight into film-making. He worked in his first film Den Muso, directed by Souleymane Cissé, starting in 1970. He went on to star in numerous critically acclaimed films, and worked with most Malian directors of repute, and numerous other African filmmakers.
Keïta has also taught at the Institut national des arts (National Institute of the Arts) of Mali. He was awarded the Best Male Interpretation Award at the FESPACO for his role in the Guinean film Séré, le témoin in 1991.
Death
He died in Bamako in 2001 of pulmonary emphysema partially due to heavy lifelong smoking habits, and is survived by ten children.
Source : Wikidata
Balla Moussa Keïta
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Biography
Early lifeBalla Moussa Keïta was born in Nango, Mali, a small village about 40 km from Ségou in 1934. Sent to school in Ségou at eight, Keïta's formal education came to an end after primary school when he returned home to help his parents in farming. On the death of his father, Keïta moved to Bamako to find work. Keïta initially worked as a middleman trader, buying fish and rice from Mopti and Dioro and reselling them in Bamako.
Career
In 1960, he managed to obtain a job with the National Theater (then under the Haut Commissariat à la jeunesse - the High Commission for Youth). Under the auspices of the Commissariat, Keïta recorded his first radio broadcast for Malian radio in 1967. Initially, Keïta recorded short advisories on bush fires and conduct of drivers. This ultimately led to the weekly program "Prévention et Circulation routière (Prevention and Road Traffic). Keïta thus became a well-known voice on the radio, and was popularly known as "Balla Moussa". He lent voice to numerous radio shows and newscasts during this period. His voice talents were utilized by government organizations like the AMP (Agence malienne de publicité) and the ANIM (Agence nationale d'information du Mali).
In 1965, Keïta travelled to the People's Republic of China with a Malian team to duplicate three films of socialist ideology in Bambara. The exercise lasted 5 months, but gave Keïta a valuable insight into film-making. He worked in his first film Den Muso, directed by Souleymane Cissé, starting in 1970. He went on to star in numerous critically acclaimed films, and worked with most Malian directors of repute, and numerous other African filmmakers.
Keïta has also taught at the Institut national des arts (National Institute of the Arts) of Mali. He was awarded the Best Male Interpretation Award at the FESPACO for his role in the Guinean film Séré, le témoin in 1991.
Death
He died in Bamako in 2001 of pulmonary emphysema partially due to heavy lifelong smoking habits, and is survived by ten children.
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Filmography of Balla Moussa Keïta (11 films)
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Clouds Over Conakry (2007)
, 1h53Directed by Cheick Fantamady Camara
Origin France
Genres Drama
Actors Balla Moussa Keïta, Alex Ogou, Fatoumata Diawara
Roles Karamo
Rating67%
BB works as a political cartoonist at a liberal newspaper and is in love with the boss' lovely, talented computer scientist daughter, Kesso. But his choice meets with stiff opposition from his strict Muslim father Karamako, who is the guardian of the ancestral tradition of their village as well as imam of Conakry. Karamako's dreaminspired insistence that BB go to Saudi Arabia to study to become an imam, against the young man's wishes, further complicates the relationship, especially when Kesso becomes pregnant with BB's child.
Genesis (1999)
, 1h42Origin Mali
Genres Drama
Actors Sotigui Kouyate, Balla Moussa Keïta, Fatoumata Diawara, Habib Dembélé
Roles Hamor
Rating66%
Trois siècles après le déluge, le clan de l'éleveur Jacob et de ses fils se déchire avec le clan des cultivateurs sédentaires conduit par Hamor. Quant à Esaü, chef du peuple des chasseurs, il prépare sa vengeance. Frère de Jacob, Esau lui voue une haine mortelle depuis que celui-ci a subtilisé son droit d'aînesse. Reclus dans son campement, Jacob pleure la perte de son fils Joseph, qu'il croit mort.
Guimba the Tyrant (1995)
, 1h33Origin Mali
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Films set in Africa
Actors Balla Moussa Keïta, Habib Dembélé, Falaba Issa Traoré
Roles Mambi
Rating64%
The film opens with a village griot reciting the story of Guimba the tyrant, of the Dunbuya family. The setting moves to an old Malian village ruled by the evil and tyrannical leader Guimba and his dwarf son Janguine. Janguine has been betrothed from childhood to the village beauty Kani from the Diarra family - the other powerful family in the village. Janguine, however, has his eyes on Kani's well-endowed mother Meya, and hence Guimba offers to marry Kani, asking Kani's father for a divorce so that Janguine can marry Meya. When he refuses, he is banished from the village. Protests break out, leading to the killings, and subjugation.
Time (1995)
, 2h20Directed by Souleymane Cissé
Origin France
Genres Drama
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about racism
Actors Balla Moussa Keïta, Vusi Kunene
Roles Teacher
Rating68%
En Afrique du Sud, une adolescente, Nandi, grandit exploitée au milieu des brimades faites aux Noirs. Un jour, un policier tue son père. Terrorisée, elle s'enfuit. Elle parvient à traverser la frontière et des nomades l'adoptent. Elle parvient dans un pays où elle peut faire des études d'ethnologie.
The African Child (1995)
Genres Drama
Actors Balla Moussa Keïta
Roles Moussa, l'oncle
Rating64%
Ce film retrace l'itinéraire initiatique d'un jeune garçon qui découvre la capitale, lui qui n'a jamais quitté son village de la brousse. Il se rend en ville pour poursuivre ses études, il est l'espoir de sa famille. Son père veut qu'il devienne célèbre comme son oncle car lui n'a pas pu aller dans une aussi bonne école et veut que son fils ait la chance qu'il n'a pas pu avoir.
Fire! (1990)
, 1h40Directed by Adama Drabo
Origin Mali
Genres Drama
Actors Balla Moussa Keïta
Roles Fakoro
Rating62%
Brightness (1987)
, 1h45Directed by Souleymane Cissé
Origin Mali
Genres Drama, Fantastic, Fantasy
Themes Films set in Africa
Actors Balla Moussa Keïta
Roles Rouma Boll, le roi Peul
Rating68%
Yeelen retrace un parcours initiatique à une époque non définie. Un jeune homme, Nianankoro, va recevoir le savoir destiné à lui assurer la maîtrise des forces qui l'entourent, cette connaissance que les Bambaras se transmettent depuis toujours. Le père, Soma, ne supporte pas de voir son fils renier ce pourquoi il vit avec les autres sorciers du désert et décide de le traquer à mort.
The Wind (1983)
, 1h45Directed by Souleymane Cissé
Origin Mali
Genres Drama
Actors Balla Moussa Keïta
Roles Le Gouverneur Sangaré
Rating65%
Une grande ville africaine contemporaine ; une rencontre : celle de deux adolescents en révolte. Bâ est le petit-fils d'un des chefs traditionnels de la région. Batrou, elle, est la fille d'un des représentants du nouveau pouvoir, le gouverneur militaire Sangaré, auquel ils vont s'affronter ...
Work (1978)
, 1h31Directed by Souleymane Cissé
Origin Mali
Genres Drama
Themes Films about the labor movement
Actors Balla Moussa Keïta
Rating65%
Balla Diarra gagne sa vie comme porteur. Balla Traoré, un jeune ingénieur pour lequel il a transporté des colis, le fait embaucher dans l'usine où il travaille. La place est stable mais les conditions de travail sont extrêmement dures. Le PDG, Makan Sissoko, se moque du sort de ses employés. L'ingénieur, révolté par l'attitude de son patron, décide d'organiser une réunion avec les ouvriers pour faire valoir leurs droits. Mais Sissoko le fait aussitôt enlever puis assassiner.
The Young Girl (1975)
, 1h28Directed by Souleymane Cissé
Genres Drama
Actors Balla Moussa Keïta
Rating67%
A young mute woman is raped and becomes pregnant, with disastrous consequences within her family. The film also sketches the social/economic situation in urban Mali in the 1970s, particularly in relation to the treatment of women.
The Young Girl (1975)
, 1h26Directed by Souleymane Cissé
Genres Drama
Actors Balla Moussa Keïta
Rating67%
Sékou est renvoyé de l'usine de cycles dirigée par Malamine Diaby parce qu'il a osé demander une augmentation. Il sort avec Ténin, une jeune fille muette, dont il ignore qu'elle est la fille de son ancien patron. Un jour de sortie entre jeunes, Sékou la viole. Ténin se trouve enceinte et subit la colère de ses parents. Elle est alors confrontée brutalement à la morale de sa famille et à la lâcheté de Sékou qui refuse de reconnaître l'enfant.