Known for Directing
Ousmane Sembène (January 1, 1923 — June 9, 2007), often credited in the French style as Sembène Ousmane in articles and reference works, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The Los Angeles Times considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and he has often been called the "Father of African film."
Born
January 1, 1923
Died
June 9, 2007 (age 84)
Birthplace
Ziguinchor, Casamance, Senegal
Filmography
40 films


Moolaadé
2004 · 2h 4m
country: Burkina Faso
When a woman shelters a group of girls from suffering female genital mutilation, she starts a conflict that tears her village apart.


Faat Kiné
2001 · 2h
country: Senegal
A forty-year-old woman refuses to give into the stigma of unwed motherhood and climbs the ladder of success in a male dominated field.


Guelwaar
1993 · 1h 55m
country: Senegal
As funeral preparations begin for Pierre Henri 'Guelwaar' Thioune, rumour spreads that his death may have been an assassination in retaliation for his radical political beliefs and constant criticism of the current regime. When the heroic Guelwaar's cadaver is stolen, his Francophile son, Barthelemy, contacts the authorities. As Detective Gora begrudgingly investigates, he discovers that Guelwaar was a complicated man guilty of his own share of sins.


Camp de Thiaroye
1988 · 2h 34m
country: Algeria
A Senegalese platoon of soldiers from the French Free Army return from combat and are temporarily held in a military encampment with barbed wire fences and guard towers in the desert. Among them are charismatic Sergeant Diatta, educated in Paris and has a French wife and child, and Pays, a soldier left in a state of shock who can only communicate in guttural screams and grunts.


Ceddo
1978 · 1h 57m
country: Senegal
The Ceddo people try to preserve their traditional African culture against the onslaught of Islam, Christianity, and the slave trade. When King Demba War sides with the Muslims, the Ceddo kidnap his daughter, Princess Dior Yacine, to protest their forcible conversion to Islam.


Xala
1975 · 2h 1m
country: Senegal
A rich businessman in Senegal is cursed with crippling erectile dysfunction upon the day of his marriage to his third wife; the only cure is brutal public humiliation.


Emitaï
1973 · 1h 41m
country: Senegal
As World War II rages in Europe, a conflict arises between the French and the Diola-speaking tribe of Africa, prompting the village women to organize their men to sit beneath a tree to pray.


Tauw
1970 · 27m
country: Senegal
A young unemployed man fends off accusations of laziness and makes a home for his pregnant girlfriend who has been rejected by her family.


Mandabi
1968 · 1h 32m
country: Senegal
A money order from a relative in Paris throws the life of a Senegalese family man out of order. He deals with corruption, greed, problematic family members, the locals and the changing from his traditional way of living to a more modern one.


Black Girl
1966 · 1h 5m
country: France
Eager to find a better life abroad, a Senegalese woman becomes a mere governess to a family in southern France, suffering from discrimination and marginalization.


Niaye
1964 · 35m
country: France
Adapted from "Vehi-Ciosane ou Blanche-Genèse," this short drama portrays a Senegalese village thrown into crisis by the pregnancy of a young girl, revealing deeper patterns of moral and social breakdown.


The Wagoner
1963 · 18m
country: Senegal
A cart-taxi driver goes to the city to make a living, but out of sympathy with other poverty-stricken people, he works for free and goes hungry himself.