auteur, in film criticism, a director who so dominates the film-making process that it is appropriate to call the director the auteur, or author, of the motion picture. The auteur theory holds that the director is the primary person responsible for the creation of a motion picture and imbues it with his or her distinctive, recognizable style. Propounded most notably by the French director and film critic François Truffaut and the American film critic Andrew Sarris, it has been attacked by others, including Pauline Kael.

Theory that holds that a film's director is its “author” (French, auteur). It originated in France in the 1950s and was promoted by Francsubcommaois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard and the journal Cahiers du Cinéma. The director oversees and “writes” the film's audio and visual scenario and therefore is considered more responsible for its content than the screenwriter. Supporters maintain that the most successful films bear the distinctive imprint of their director.

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Bureau Nigérien du Droit d’Auteur (BNDA) is the Niger office that manages copyright under the technical supervision of the Ministry of Culture and under the financial supervision of the Ministry of Finance. The director is Ganda Tahirou.

It became a member of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers on October 15, 1997.

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