A Senegalese maid employed on the French Cote d’Azur is confined by her kitchen work and forced to defend her humanity against what feels like a new form of slavery. Director Ousmane Sembene’s assured debut is an astute look at the immediate postcolonial period in Senegal, shot in arresting black and white film. Winner of the Prix Jean Vigo at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival. 4K digital restoration. 1966, B&W, in French with English subtitles, 65 minutes.
The matinee screening at 2 pm on Sunday, October 18, is a double feature with the documentary Sembene!. The second film on the program is Black Girl.
Black Girl was shown at the Walker in 2010 as part of Ousmane Sembene: African Stories, an extensive retrospective in partnership with the University of Minnesota.
Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project in collaboration with the Sembène Estate, Institut National de l’Audiovisuel, INA, Eclair laboratories and Centre National de Cinématographie. Restoration carried out at Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory.