On Sembène

Ousmane Sembène on set | Image courtesy of Kino Lorber

Does the name Ousmane Sembène mean anything to you? If it does, it’s likely that you’re already anticipating our screenings of Sembène and Black Girl tonight and Friday. But if the name is unfamiliar to you, you might be one the verge of discovering one of your new favorite filmmakers.

Referred to as the “father of African cinema,” Sembène has been one of the most influential filmmakers the world has seen and anything that brings attention to his career is invaluable. That’s why the new documentary Sembène is such an event for film lovers. It provides a portrait of a filmmaker who essentially created an entire film industry from scratch and created new possibilities for socio-political storytelling, one who returned African stories back to Africa.

Following our screening of Sembène, you’ll have a chance to see why the man and his films have been so celebrated over the decades when we show his first feature film, Black Girl (1966). The story of a young Senegalese woman who moves to France to work for a French couple, the short feature was a sensation upon it’s release in the US in 1969. The great critic Manny Farber declared it the best film of that year and said that it’s unlike any film ever made before. Along with Black Girl, we’ll also include the 20-minute short Borom Sarret (The Wagoner, 1963), Sembene’s first film (and the first film ever made in Africa by a black African). With one movie ticket, you can get a full primer on one of the most significant filmmakers of the past half-century. It’s a program we’re thrilled to present and one that you’ll be thinking about for a long time afterward.