Abderrahmane Sissako President of the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury

In 2014, the internationally acclaimed Timbuktu caused the greatest emotion among the films in Competition at the Festival de Cannes. This year, Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako returns for the 68th Festival (13-24 May), where he will serve as President of the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury.

This great contemporary African poet will follow in the footsteps of illustrious directors such as Abbas Kiarostami, Jane Campion, Michel Gondry, Hou Hsiao-hsien and Martin Scorsese.

Born in Mauritania but brought up in Mali and trained in filmmaking in the Soviet Union - at the Moscow VGIK - Abderrahmane Sissako crosses cultures and continents. His work is suffused with humanism and social consciousness and explores the complex relations between North and South as well as the fate of a much-beleaguered Africa.