THE BLACK AFRICAN DIASPORA

This exploration of the African Diaspora begins with the films of Ousmane Sembene. He was a working class youth who became a labor organizer, a civil rights activist, and finally, a novelist and filmmaker. His oeuvre depicts Black African peoples’ ongoing struggle for liberation. His life’s work encouraged personal liberation – social, economic, political – from European and Muslim domination. He is celebrated as the father of African cinema for spearheading the broader awakening to the full uniqueness of African life. Sembene championed Africa’s complex mix of decentralized, self-contained, village cultures and languages.

Ousmane Sembene’s

CAMP DE THIAROYE

              Tuesday, May 4 at 7:30pm            

After helping liberate France in World War II, a group of African soldiers is stationed in a camp in Dakar where the color of their skin trumps the stripes on their uniforms. Forced once more to suffer the indignities of racism, the soldiers are put on road to rebellion--with tragic consequences. This methodical drama from Senegalese master Ousmane Sembene is an impassioned rebuke to colonialism.France/Senegal,1975, 123 min