Film
Black Girl
Father of African cinema Ousmane Sembène’s feature debut is one of the most important films ever made about race. Senegalese housemaid Diouana (Diop) is brought to France by the white family she works for, finding herself isolated in an unfamiliar country and trapped in a life of domestic servitude, a situation that the dignified Diouana refuses to accept. Both a landmark of world cinema and a devastating indictment of colonialism’s tragic legacy, Black Girl is the first African film to receive international acclaim; Martin Scorsese called it: “an astonishing movie—so ferocious, so haunting, and so unlike anything we’d ever seen.” Sembène’s luminous black and white images have a direct expressive power, and they gleam anew in this restoration.
Screens with Borom Sarret (1963), Sembène’s first film is a neorealist look at the hardscrabble life of a wagon driver who encounters a cross-section of Dakar’s inhabitants as he makes his rounds through the streets of the city.
New 4k restorations restored from the original camera and sound negatives. A Janus Films release.
Restored by The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project, in collaboration with Sembène Estate, Institut National de l'Audiovisuel, INA, Eclair laboratories and Centre National de Cinématographie.
Restoration carried out at the Cineteca di Bologna/ L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory.
This cinematic companion to the annual DanceAfrica celebration features the best fiction and documentary from Ghana, Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, and beyond, including a special focus on Senegal.
Sembene! tells the remarkable story of the father of African cinema, Ousmane Sembène, and features rare archival footage.