Ousmane Sembène
Encyclopedia
Ousmane Sembène often credited in the French style as Sembène Ousmane in articles and reference works, was a Senegal
ese film director
, producer and writer
. The Los Angeles Times
considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa
and has often been called the "Father of African film."
, Ousmane Sembène was born in Ziguinchor
in Casamance
to a Muslim
Wolof
family. He went to an Islam
ic school (common for many boys in Senegal) and to the French
school, learning French
and basic Arabic
in addition to his mother tongue, Wolof
. He had to leave his French school in 1936 when he clashed with the principal. After an unsuccessful stint working with his father (Sembène was prone to sea-sickness), he left for Dakar
in 1938, where he worked a variety of manual labour
jobs.
In 1944, Sembène was drafted into the Senegalese Tirailleurs
(a corps of the French Army
) in World War II
and later fought for the Free French Forces
. After the war he returned to his home country and in 1947 participated in a long railroad strike on which he later based his seminal novel God's Bits of Wood
.
Late in 1947, he stowed away to France, where he worked at a Citroën
factory in Paris
and then on the docks at Marseille
, becoming active in the French trade union
movement. He joined the communist-led CGT
and the Communist party
, helping lead a strike to hinder the shipment of weapons for the French colonial war
in Vietnam
. During this time, he discovered writers such as Claude McKay
and Jacques Roumain
.
who faces racism and mistreatment on the docks at Marseille. Diaw writes a novel, which is later stolen by a white woman and published under her name; he confronts her, accidentally kills her, and is tried and executed in scenes highly reminiscent of Albert Camus
's The Outsider
. Though the book focuses particularly on the mistreatment of African immigrants, Sembène also details the oppression of Arab and Spanish workers, making it clear that the issues are as much economic as they are racial. Like most of his fiction, it is written in a social realist mode. Many critics today consider the book somewhat flawed; however, it began Sembène's literary reputation and provided him with the financial support to continue writing.
Sembène's second novel, O Pays, mon beau peuple! (Oh country, my beautiful people!, 1957), tells the story of Oumar, an ambitious black farmer returning to his native Casamance with a new white wife and ideas for modernizing the area's agricultural practices. However, Oumar struggles against both the white colonial government and the village social order, and is eventually murdered. O Pays, mon beau peuple! was an international success, giving Sembène invitations from around the world, particularly from Communist
countries such as China
, Cuba
, and the Soviet Union
. While in Moscow, Sembène had the opportunity to study filmmaking for a year at Gorki Studios.
Sembène's third and most famous novel is Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu (God's Bits of Wood
, 1960); most critics consider it his masterpiece, rivaled only by Xala. The novel fictionalizes the real-life story of a railroad strike on the Dakar-Niger line that lasted from 1947 to 1948. Though the charismatic and brilliant union spokesman, Ibrahima Bakayoko, is the most central figure, the novel has no true hero except the community itself, which bands together in the face of hardship and oppression to assert their rights. Accordingly, the novel features nearly fifty characters in both Senegal and neighboring Mali
, showing the strike from all possible angles; in this, the novel is often compared to Émile Zola
's Germinal.
Sembène followed Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu with the (1962) short fiction
collection Voltaïque (Tribal Scars). The collection contains short stories, tales, and fables, including "La Noire de..." which he would later adapt into his first film. In 1964, he released l'Harmattan (The Harmattan
), an epic novel about a referendum for independence in an African capital.
(The Money Order and White Genesis), Sembène's emphasis began to shift. Just as he had once vociferously attacked the racial and economic oppression of the colonial government, with this pair of novellas, he turned his sights on the corrupt
African elites that followed.
Sembène continued this theme with the 1973 novel Xala, the story of a El Hadji Abdou Kader Beye, a rich businessman struck by what he believes to be a curse of impotence
("xala" in Wolof) on the night of his wedding to his beautiful, young third wife. El Hadji grows obsessed with removing the curse through visits to marabout
s, but only after losing most of his money and reputation does he discover the source to be the beggar who lives outside his offices, whom he wronged in acquiring his fortune.
Le Dernier de l’empire (The Last of the Empire, 1981), Sembène's last novel, depicts corruption and an eventual military coup in a newly independent African nation. His paired 1987 novellas Niiwam et Taaw (Niiwam and Taaw) continue to explore social and moral collapse in urban Senegal.
On the strength of Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu and Xala, Sembène is considered one of the leading figures in African postcolonial literature. However, a lack of English
translation of many of his novels has hindered Sembène from achieving the same international popularity enjoyed by Chinua Achebe
and Wole Soyinka
.
In 1963, Sembène produced his first film, a short called Barom Sarret (The Wagoner). In '64 he made another short entitled Niaye. In 1966 he produced his first feature film, La Noire de..., based on one of his own short stories; it was the first feature film ever released by a sub-Saharan African director. Though only 60 minutes long, the French-language film won the Prix Jean Vigo
, bringing immediate international attention to both African film generally and Sembène specifically. Sembène followed this success with the 1968 Mandabi, achieving his dream of producing a film in his native Wolof. Later Wolof-language films include Xala
(1975, based on his own novel), Ceddo (1977), Camp de Thiaroye (1987), and Guelwaar (1992). The Senegalese release of Ceddo was heavily censored
, ostensibly for a problem with Sembène's paperwork, but more probably for its anti-Muslim
themes. However, Sembène distributed fliers at theaters describing the censored scenes and released it uncut for the international market. In 1971, Sembène also made a film in the Diola language and French entitled Emitai.
In 1977, he was a member of the jury at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival
.
Recurrent themes of Sembène's films are the history of colonialism
, the failings of religion, the critique of the new African bourgeoisie
, and the strength of African women.
His final film, the 2004 feature Moolaadé
, won awards at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival
and the FESPACO Film Festival in Ouagadougou
, Burkina Faso
. The film, set in a small African village in Burkina Faso
, explored the controversial subject of female genital mutilation.
, Senegal
where he was buried in a shroud adorned with Quranic verses. Sembène was survived by three sons, from two marriages.
Seipati Bulane Hopa, Secretary General of the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI)
described Sembène as "a luminary that lit the torch for ordinary people to walk the path of light...a voice that spoke without hesitation, a man with an impeccable talent who unwaveringly held on to his artistic principles and did that with great integrity and dignity."
South Africa's Dr. Z. Pallo Jordan, Minister of Arts and Culture, went further in eulogizing Sembène as "a well rounded intellectual and an exceptionally cultured humanist...an informed social critic [who] provided the world with an alternative knowledge of Africa."
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
ese film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, producer and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and has often been called the "Father of African film."
Early life
The son of a fishermanFisherman
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...
, Ousmane Sembène was born in Ziguinchor
Ziguinchor
Ziguinchor is the capital of the Ziguinchor Region, and the chief town of the Casamance area of Senegal, lying at the mouth of the Casamance River. It has a population of over 230,000...
in Casamance
Casamance
Casamance is the area of Senegal south of The Gambia including the Casamance River. It consists of Basse Casamance and Haute Casamance...
to a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
Wolof
Wolof people
The Wolof are an ethnic group found in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania.In Senegal, the Wolof form an ethnic plurality with about 43.3% of the population are Wolofs...
family. He went to an Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic school (common for many boys in Senegal) and to the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
school, learning French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and basic Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
in addition to his mother tongue, Wolof
Wolof language
Wolof is a language spoken in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and is the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family...
. He had to leave his French school in 1936 when he clashed with the principal. After an unsuccessful stint working with his father (Sembène was prone to sea-sickness), he left for Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
in 1938, where he worked a variety of manual labour
Manual labour
Manual labour , manual or manual work is physical work done by people, most especially in contrast to that done by machines, and also to that done by working animals...
jobs.
In 1944, Sembène was drafted into the Senegalese Tirailleurs
Senegalese Tirailleurs
The Senegalese Tirailleurs were a corps of colonial infantry in the French Army recruited from Senegal,French West Africa and throughout west, central and east Africa, the main province of the French colonial empire...
(a corps of the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
) in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and later fought for the Free French Forces
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
. After the war he returned to his home country and in 1947 participated in a long railroad strike on which he later based his seminal novel God's Bits of Wood
God's Bits of Wood
God's Bits of Wood is a 1960 novel by the Senegalese author Ousmane Sembène that concerns a railroad strike in colonial Senegal of the 1940s. It was written in French under the title Les bouts de bois de Dieu. The book deals with several ways that the Senegalese and Malians responded to colonialism...
.
Late in 1947, he stowed away to France, where he worked at a Citroën
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
factory in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and then on the docks at Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, becoming active in the French trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
movement. He joined the communist-led CGT
Confédération générale du travail
The General Confederation of Labour is a national trade union center, the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions.It is the largest in terms of votes , and second largest in terms of membership numbers.Its membership decreased to 650,000 members in 1995-96 The General...
and the Communist party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
, helping lead a strike to hinder the shipment of weapons for the French colonial war
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. During this time, he discovered writers such as Claude McKay
Claude McKay
Claude McKay was a Jamaican-American writer and poet. He was a seminal figure in the Harlem Renaissance and wrote three novels: Home to Harlem , a best-seller which won the Harmon Gold Award for Literature, Banjo , and Banana Bottom...
and Jacques Roumain
Jacques Roumain
Jacques Roumain was a Haitian writer, politician, and advocate of Communism. He is considered one of the most prominent figures in Haitian literature. Although poorly known in the English-speaking world, Roumain has significant following in Europe, and is renowned in the Caribbean and Latin America...
.
Early literary career
Sembène drew on many of these experiences for his French-language first novel, Le Docker Noir (The Black Docker, 1956), the story of Diaw, an African stevedoreStevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
who faces racism and mistreatment on the docks at Marseille. Diaw writes a novel, which is later stolen by a white woman and published under her name; he confronts her, accidentally kills her, and is tried and executed in scenes highly reminiscent of Albert Camus
Albert Camus
Albert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
's The Outsider
The Stranger (novel)
The Stranger or The Outsider is a novel by Albert Camus published in 1942. Its theme and outlook are often cited as examples of existentialism, though Camus did not consider himself an existentialist; in fact, its content explores various philosophical schools of thought, including absurdism, as...
. Though the book focuses particularly on the mistreatment of African immigrants, Sembène also details the oppression of Arab and Spanish workers, making it clear that the issues are as much economic as they are racial. Like most of his fiction, it is written in a social realist mode. Many critics today consider the book somewhat flawed; however, it began Sembène's literary reputation and provided him with the financial support to continue writing.
Sembène's second novel, O Pays, mon beau peuple! (Oh country, my beautiful people!, 1957), tells the story of Oumar, an ambitious black farmer returning to his native Casamance with a new white wife and ideas for modernizing the area's agricultural practices. However, Oumar struggles against both the white colonial government and the village social order, and is eventually murdered. O Pays, mon beau peuple! was an international success, giving Sembène invitations from around the world, particularly from Communist
Communist state
A communist state is a state with a form of government characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed allegiance to a Leninist or Marxist-Leninist communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state...
countries such as China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. While in Moscow, Sembène had the opportunity to study filmmaking for a year at Gorki Studios.
Sembène's third and most famous novel is Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu (God's Bits of Wood
God's Bits of Wood
God's Bits of Wood is a 1960 novel by the Senegalese author Ousmane Sembène that concerns a railroad strike in colonial Senegal of the 1940s. It was written in French under the title Les bouts de bois de Dieu. The book deals with several ways that the Senegalese and Malians responded to colonialism...
, 1960); most critics consider it his masterpiece, rivaled only by Xala. The novel fictionalizes the real-life story of a railroad strike on the Dakar-Niger line that lasted from 1947 to 1948. Though the charismatic and brilliant union spokesman, Ibrahima Bakayoko, is the most central figure, the novel has no true hero except the community itself, which bands together in the face of hardship and oppression to assert their rights. Accordingly, the novel features nearly fifty characters in both Senegal and neighboring Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, showing the strike from all possible angles; in this, the novel is often compared to Émile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
's Germinal.
Sembène followed Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu with the (1962) short fiction
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
collection Voltaïque (Tribal Scars). The collection contains short stories, tales, and fables, including "La Noire de..." which he would later adapt into his first film. In 1964, he released l'Harmattan (The Harmattan
Harmattan
The Harmattan is a dry and dusty West African trade wind. It blows south from the Sahara into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March...
), an epic novel about a referendum for independence in an African capital.
Later literary career
With the 1965 publication of Le mandat, précédé de Vehi-CiosaneThe Money-Order with White Genesis
The money-order with White genesis is a book containing two novellas by Senegalese author Ousmane Sembène, first published in French in 1966. An English-language translation was published in 1972. It tells two stories. In White Genesis, a mother struggles with conflict after her teenage...
(The Money Order and White Genesis), Sembène's emphasis began to shift. Just as he had once vociferously attacked the racial and economic oppression of the colonial government, with this pair of novellas, he turned his sights on the corrupt
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
African elites that followed.
Sembène continued this theme with the 1973 novel Xala, the story of a El Hadji Abdou Kader Beye, a rich businessman struck by what he believes to be a curse of impotence
Erectile dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction is sexual dysfunction characterized by the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis during sexual performance....
("xala" in Wolof) on the night of his wedding to his beautiful, young third wife. El Hadji grows obsessed with removing the curse through visits to marabout
Marabout
A marabout is a Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa, and in the Maghreb. The marabout is often a scholar of the Qur'an, or religious teacher. Others may be wandering holy men who survive on alms, Sufi Murshids , or leaders of religious communities...
s, but only after losing most of his money and reputation does he discover the source to be the beggar who lives outside his offices, whom he wronged in acquiring his fortune.
Le Dernier de l’empire (The Last of the Empire, 1981), Sembène's last novel, depicts corruption and an eventual military coup in a newly independent African nation. His paired 1987 novellas Niiwam et Taaw (Niiwam and Taaw) continue to explore social and moral collapse in urban Senegal.
On the strength of Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu and Xala, Sembène is considered one of the leading figures in African postcolonial literature. However, a lack of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
translation of many of his novels has hindered Sembène from achieving the same international popularity enjoyed by Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe
Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe popularly known as Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic...
and Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence", and became the first African in Africa and...
.
Film
As an author so concerned with social change, one of Sembène's goals had always been to touch the widest possible audience. After his 1960 return to Senegal, however, he realized that his written works would only be read by a small cultural elite in his native land. He therefore decided at age 40 to become a film maker, in order to reach wider African audiences.In 1963, Sembène produced his first film, a short called Barom Sarret (The Wagoner). In '64 he made another short entitled Niaye. In 1966 he produced his first feature film, La Noire de..., based on one of his own short stories; it was the first feature film ever released by a sub-Saharan African director. Though only 60 minutes long, the French-language film won the Prix Jean Vigo
Prix Jean Vigo
The Prix Jean Vigo is an award in the Cinema of France given annually since 1951 to a French film director in homage to Jean Vigo. It was founded by French writer Claude...
, bringing immediate international attention to both African film generally and Sembène specifically. Sembène followed this success with the 1968 Mandabi, achieving his dream of producing a film in his native Wolof. Later Wolof-language films include Xala
Xala
Xala is a 1975 Senegalese film directed by Ousmane Sembène. It is an adaptation of Sembène's own 1973 novel of the same name. The film depicts El Hadji, a politician in Senegal, who is cursed with crippling erectile dysfunction upon the day of his marriage to his third wife...
(1975, based on his own novel), Ceddo (1977), Camp de Thiaroye (1987), and Guelwaar (1992). The Senegalese release of Ceddo was heavily censored
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
, ostensibly for a problem with Sembène's paperwork, but more probably for its anti-Muslim
Criticism of Islam
Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early written criticism came from Christians, prior to the ninth century, many of whom viewed Islam as a radical Christian heresy...
themes. However, Sembène distributed fliers at theaters describing the censored scenes and released it uncut for the international market. In 1971, Sembène also made a film in the Diola language and French entitled Emitai.
In 1977, he was a member of the jury at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival
27th Berlin International Film Festival
The 27th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 24 to July 5, 1977.-Jury:* Senta Berger * Ellen Burstyn* Helène Vager* Rainer Werner Fassbinder* Derek Malcolm* Andrej Michaolkow-Kontschalowski* Ousmane Sembène...
.
Recurrent themes of Sembène's films are the history of colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
, the failings of religion, the critique of the new African bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
, and the strength of African women.
His final film, the 2004 feature Moolaadé
Moolaadé
Moolaadé is a 2004 film by the Senegalese writer and director Ousmane Sembène. It addresses the subject of female genital mutilation, a common practice in a number of African countries, especially those immediately south of the Sahara Desert...
, won awards at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival
2004 Cannes Film Festival
The 2004 Cannes Film Festival started on May 12 and ran until May 23. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore.-Jury:* Quentin Tarantino, President * Emmanuelle Béart * Edwidge Danticat * Tilda Swinton...
and the FESPACO Film Festival in Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic center of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 1,475,223 . The city's name is often shortened to Ouaga. The inhabitants are called ouagalais...
, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
. The film, set in a small African village in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
, explored the controversial subject of female genital mutilation.
Death
Ousmane Sembène died on June 9, 2007, at the age of 84. He had been ill since December 2006, and died at his home in DakarDakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
where he was buried in a shroud adorned with Quranic verses. Sembène was survived by three sons, from two marriages.
Seipati Bulane Hopa, Secretary General of the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI)
African cinema
The term African cinema refers to the film production in Africa, following formal independence. Some of the countries in North Africa developed a national film industry much earlier and are related to West Asian cinema...
described Sembène as "a luminary that lit the torch for ordinary people to walk the path of light...a voice that spoke without hesitation, a man with an impeccable talent who unwaveringly held on to his artistic principles and did that with great integrity and dignity."
South Africa's Dr. Z. Pallo Jordan, Minister of Arts and Culture, went further in eulogizing Sembène as "a well rounded intellectual and an exceptionally cultured humanist...an informed social critic [who] provided the world with an alternative knowledge of Africa."
Books
- Le docker noir (Paris: Debresse 1956), novel, new edition: Présence AfricainePrésence AfricainePrésence africaine is a panafrican quarterly cultural, political, and literary magazine, published in Paris and founded by Alioune Diop in 1947. In 1949, Présence africaine expanded to include a publishing house and a bookstore on the rue des Écoles in the Latin Quarter of Paris...
, Paris, 2002, engl. The Black Docker (London: Heinemann, 1987). - O pays, mon beau peuple! (1957)
- Les bouts de bois de Dieu, 1960, engl. God's Bits of WoodGod's Bits of WoodGod's Bits of Wood is a 1960 novel by the Senegalese author Ousmane Sembène that concerns a railroad strike in colonial Senegal of the 1940s. It was written in French under the title Les bouts de bois de Dieu. The book deals with several ways that the Senegalese and Malians responded to colonialism...
, London: Heinemann, 1995 - Voltaïque, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1962; engl. Tribal ScarsTribal ScarsTribal Scars is a collection of short stories by Senegalese author Ousmane Sembène. It was originally published in French as Voltaique.-Contents:* "The False Prophet"* "The Bilal's Fourth Wife"* "In the Face of History"* "Love in Sandy Lane"...
, Washington: INSCAPE, 1975; short stories - L’Harmattan (Paris: Présence Africaine, 1964), novel.
- Le mandat, précédé de Vehi-Ciosane (Paris: Presence Africaine, 1966), engl. The Money-Order with White GenesisThe Money-Order with White GenesisThe money-order with White genesis is a book containing two novellas by Senegalese author Ousmane Sembène, first published in French in 1966. An English-language translation was published in 1972. It tells two stories. In White Genesis, a mother struggles with conflict after her teenage...
, London: Heinemann, 1987 - XalaXalaXala is a 1975 Senegalese film directed by Ousmane Sembène. It is an adaptation of Sembène's own 1973 novel of the same name. The film depicts El Hadji, a politician in Senegal, who is cursed with crippling erectile dysfunction upon the day of his marriage to his third wife...
, Paris: Présence africaine, 1973 - Le dernier de l'Empire, L'Harmattan 1981, - "a key to Senegalese politics" (Werner Glinga), engl. The last of the Empire: A Senegalese Novel (London: Heinemann, 1983).
- Niiwam (Paris: Presence Africaine, 1987), engl. Niiwam and Taaw: Two Novellas (Oxford and Portsmouth, N. H.: Heinemann, 1992).
On Ousmane Sembène
- Gadjigo, Samba. Ousmane Sembène: Dialogues with Critics and Writers. Amherst: University of Massachusestts Press, 1993.
- Murphy, David. Imagining Alternatives in Film and Fiction - Sembene. Oxford: Africa World Press Inc., 2001.
- Niang, Sada. Littérature et cinéma en afrique francophone: Ousmane Sembène et Assia Djebar. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1996.
- Niang, Sada & Samba Gadjigo. "Interview with Ousmane Sembene." Research in African Literatures 26:3 (Fall 1995): 174-178.
- Vieyra, Paulin Soumanou. Ousmane Sembène cineaste: première période, 1962–1971. Paris: Présence Africaine, 1972.
- Pfaff, Françoise. The Cinema of Ousmane Sembene: A Pioneer of African Film. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1984.
- Annas, Max & Busch, Annett: Ousmane Sembene: Interviews. University Press, Mississippi, 2008.
Selected filmography
- Borom SarretBorom SarretBorom Sarret is the first film by Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène over which he had full control. It is often considered the first film ever made in Africa by a black African. It is twenty minutes long and tells a story about a cart driver in Dakar...
(1963) - Niaye (1964)
- La Noire de...(1966)
- MandabiMandabiMandabi is a 1968 film directed by Ousmane Sembène. The film is based on Sembène's novel The Money-Order. It the director's first film in his native Wolof language.-Plot:...
(1968) - XalaXalaXala is a 1975 Senegalese film directed by Ousmane Sembène. It is an adaptation of Sembène's own 1973 novel of the same name. The film depicts El Hadji, a politician in Senegal, who is cursed with crippling erectile dysfunction upon the day of his marriage to his third wife...
(1975) - Ceddo (1977)
- Camp de Thiaroye (1988)
- GuelwaarGuelwaarGuelwaar is a 1993 French drama film written and directed by Ousmane Sembène. The film won The President of the Italian Senate's Gold Medal at the 49th Venice International Film Festival.-Cast:* Marie Augustine Diatta...
(1992) - Faat KinéFaat KinéFaat Kiné is a 2000 Senegalese film written and directed by Ousmane Sembène, set in present-day Dakar, Senegal. It provides a critical look at modern, post-colonial Senegal and the place of women in that society...
(2000) - MoolaadéMoolaadéMoolaadé is a 2004 film by the Senegalese writer and director Ousmane Sembène. It addresses the subject of female genital mutilation, a common practice in a number of African countries, especially those immediately south of the Sahara Desert...
(2004)
External links
- http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Sembene.htmlOusmane Sembène: Biography and works at Emory UniversityEmory UniversityEmory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
] - OUSMANE SEMBENE: THE LIFE OF A REVOLUTIONARY ARTIST
- Ousmane Sembène — father of African film, interview on release of Moolaadé, Socialist Worker, 11 June 2005
- (AFP 10 June 2007): African Cinema Pioneer Ousmane Sembene dies.
- (New York Times, 11 June 2007) Obituary: Ousmane Sembène, 84, Dies; Led Cinema's Advance in Africa
- "An Appraisal: A Filmmaker Who Found Africa’s Voice" by A.O. Scott, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, June 12, 2007 - The articles on Sembene on the Africultures website
- Ousmane Sembene: Interviews. Preface on the missingimage website.
- Interview October 12, 2004 on WNYCWNYCWNYC is a set of call letters shared by a pair of co-owned, non-profit, public radio stations located in New York City.WNYC broadcasts on the AM band at 820 kHz, and WNYC-FM is at 93.9 MHz. Both stations are members of National Public Radio and carry distinct, but similar news/talk programs...
; 31 minutes. (RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
). - Selected lines of the book “Ousmane Sembène Interviews”, Cineafrique.org
- Gadjigo, Samba. Ousmane Sembène. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010.
In French
- Web page devoted to Ousmane Sembène on Senegalaisement.com
- Portrait of Ousmane Sembène
- Sembène the Ceddo, Africultures.com
- Masterclass of Sembene Ousmane at the Cannes Filmfestival 2005
- interview of Sembene Ousmane by Olivier Barlet, Africultures.com
- One of the last interview of Sembene Ousmane by Anoumou Amekudji, Cineafrique.org
On the film Moolaadé
- Interview with Ousmane Sembène in l’Humanité newspaper, 15 May 2004.
- Interview with actress Fatoumata Coulibaly, on the website Africultures.
- The critic of Moolade on Africultures.
- Ousmane Sembène: Mooladé (Film Review) Stichproben: Wiener Zeitschrift für kritische Afrikaforschung/ Vienna Journal of African Studies, 2006.