He first worked in the theatre and in 1970, made his first short film Badou Boy. Three years later he made his first feature film Touki Bouki (Journey of the Hyena, 1973). Afterwards he made Parlons grand-mere (1989), Hyenes (Hyenas, 1992), Le franc (1994) and La petit vendeuse de soleil (The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun, 1999); the last two films are parts of the planned trilogy Tales of Ordinary People that the author never finished because of his death.