Africa, a continent full of stories both old and new, has over the last half century been affected by enormous political, social, and ecological change. Since shedding its long period of colonialism, it has seen newly formed governments, revived countries, and tribal alliances placed under severe pressure by conflicts over resources, foreign intervention, social customs, and religious differences. Perhaps no filmmaker captured these transformations better than Ousmane Sembene, the Senegalese artist who turned his own literature into film and became known as the father of African cinema. His career began in the years directly following Senegal’s independence and continued until 2006. The Walker Art Center is pleased to present all nine of his feature films, which range from portraits of immigrants to satires to period films based on events ignored or repressed by non-Africans, November 5-20, in the Walker Cinema.
Links to articles, interviews and reviews
California Newsreel biography of Sembene
Jonathan Rosenbaum Review of Black Girl
Camp de Thiaroye in Sense of Cinema
Guelwaar in The Washington Post