Samba Félix Ndiaye was born in 1945 in Dakar, Senegal. He earned a master's degree in cinema from the University of Paris VIII in France and went on to study cinematography and editing at the Institut Louis Lumière in Paris. He also pursued studies in ethnopsychiatry and trained in law and economics in Dakar.
His first film, "Perantal" (1974), established him as a sensitive documentary filmmaker committed to respecting cultures and traditions. "Geti Tey" (1978) is notable for the way it aligns the artisanal fishing practices it depicts with the rhythm of the ocean. The five-part series "Le Trésor des poubelles" (1989)—"The Treasure of the Trash Cans"—captures, with almost no commentary, the magic of transformation inherent in the art of recycling: aquariums made from old glass carboys in "Aqua"; small suitcases fashioned from tomato sauce tins in "Diplomate à la tomate"; kitchen utensils cast from the aluminum of old engines in "Teug"; gold dust discarded by jewelers in "Les Chutes de Ngalam"; and trunks made from metal drums in "Les Malles".
Ndiaye explored African forms of resistance in "Amadou Diallo, un peintre sous verre" (1992), "Dakar-Bamako" (1992), and finally in "Ngor, l’esprit des lieux" (1994), a film about the only village that successfully stood up to Dakar’s urban planners.
The filmmaker behind "Lettre à Senghor" (1998), "Nataal" (2001), and "Rwanda, pour mémoire" (2003), Ndiaye examined the state of African nations since independence in his final film, "Questions à la terre natale" (2008).
He passed away on Friday, November 6, 2009, in Dakar, Senegal.
