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Black Girl

(La noire de…, Ousmane Sembène, 1966) 

101 Films You Need to See Before Graduation

A black-and-white still of the profile of a young Black woman, who wears a head scarf, flower earrings, and a pearl necklace.

Trailblazing filmmaker Ousmane Sembène’s debut film is essential viewing from the “father of African cinema.”

Black Girl stars M’Bissine Thérèse Diop as a young woman who leaves Senegal to live out her dreams in France only to become gradually deadened by her work as a nanny. Sembène turns this simple conceit into a political commentary on the aftereffects of colonialism. The great film critic Manny Farber declared it the best movie of 1969, “a perfect short story that is unlike anything in the film library.” Black Girl remains one of the most significant achievements in film history. In French and Wolof with English subtitles. (65 mins., DCP)

Come early or stay after the January 11th screening to enjoy the final day of the fall 2026 exhibitions

IMAGE CAPTION
Black Girl, courtesy of Janus Films.

"Whether it’s DeMille, Hitchcock, the Senegalese filmmaker Sembène…we’re all walking in their footsteps every day."
Martin Scorsese

About the series

We are excited to continue our series of screenings featuring films that everyone should see before they graduate—whether that is from Ohio State or from the school of film fandom! Working with faculty and listening to student feedback, we’re presenting an enticing and eclectic array of classics that will complement and expand your appreciation of film history.

Program Support

Black Girl was restored by the Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in association with the Sembène Estate; INA, Institut National de l’Audiovisuel; Éclair; and the Centre National de Cinématographie. Restoration funded by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project.

SUPPORT FOR FILM PROGRAMS PROVIDED BY

Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY

Greater Columbus Arts Council

The Wexner Family

Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts

CampusParc

The Columbus Foundation

Every Page Foundation

Mellon Foundation

Axium Packaging

Nationwide Foundation

Michael and Anita Goldberg

Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease, LLP

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY

Joyce Shenk

Rebecca Perry and Ben Towle

Lachelle Thigpen

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Black Girl