Africa Film Society’s free outdoor film showcase ‘Classics in the Park’ will pay tribute to legendary Senegalese filmmaker, Ousmane Sembène for its 6th Edition. Slated for February 25th, 6pm at Akola Boni Park in Osu, Nyaniba Estate, this edition aims to familiarize Ghanaian film audience with the works of the man considered to be father of African cinema through his 1975 film Xala and 2015 biographical documentary film Sembène!.
Largely self-taught, Sembène was a prolific writer and director. His films and literature provide candid portrayal of Colonialism and the fallings of religion and the new African bourgeoisie. His first feature film, Black Girl (1966) is a critical account of the isolation of a young Senegalese domestic servant working with an affluent French family in Antibes.
In Xala (1975), Semebène takes on the new African bourgeoisie in a biting satire about a westernized black bourgeoisie rendered impotent on the day of his wedding to his third wife. It was screened at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1975 and was ranked among ‘The 100 Best Films of World Cinema in 2010 by the Empire Magazine.
Sembene was a member and co-founder of the Senegalese Association of filmmakers and the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI). He was a jury member at Cannes in 1967, Berlin (1977) and Venice (1983).His film, Moolaade (2002) won the Certain Regard prize in Cannes in 2004, subsequently becoming the first African director to hold a leçon de cinèma there.
He died in June, 2007 at the age of 84. More about Africa Film Society: Africa Film Society seeks to preserve and promote Africa’s rich cinematic legacy while cultivating new filmmakers and nurturing an audience for their work. Through our ‘Classics in the Park’ initiative, we are bringing free outdoor cinema to communities focusing on early African films (1950’s – 1990’s).
