|
Films by Ousmane Sembene
Mandabi
/
Xala
*
* * * *
Books by Francoise
Pfaff
Focus on
African Films /
The Cinema of Ousmane
Sembene, A Pioneer of African Film /
Twenty-five Black
African Filmmakers
*
* * * *
Ousmane
Sembene, African cinema pioneer, dies
10 June 2007
DAKAR (AFP) - The Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene, regarded
as one of the pioneers of African cinema, died this weekend at
his home in Dakar at the age of 84, his friends and family said
Sunday. He had been ill since December.
Born into a fisherman's family in the southern region of
Casamance in 1923 he moved to Dakar in the 1930s. He held a
series of jobs in Africa and Europe, as a mechanic, carpenter
and builder and was conscripted into the French army in World
War II, subsequently becoming a labourer and docker.
These experiences provided Sembene, a self-educated writer, with
material for his literary and film works, in particular his
books "The Black Docker", "God's Bits of Wood" and "The Money
Order."
Realising that "pictures are more accessible than words" Sembene
attended film school in Moscow before launching into what he
called "fairground cinema."
"I can go to a village and show the film. Because everything can
be filmed and transported to the most remote village in Africa,"
he said in 2005.
He began his film-making career in 1963 with "Borom sarret," a
short black and white production which tells the story of a poor
cart-driver.
In all he made some 10 films. His first long film, "The Black
Girl from..." is seen as Africa's first full-length feature.
One of his last films "Moolade" was a denunciation of female
genital mutilation and won him an award at the Cannes Film
Festival.
He won two prizes at the Venice Film Festival, in 1968 and in
1988. The first was for "The Money Order", the second for "The
Camp of Thiaroye" which recounts the
violent repression by French troops of protests by Senegalese
soldiers demanding their pay.
He was also a prolific writer and a co-founder of the Panafrican
festival of film and television of Ouagadougou held every two
years.
After African countries won independence he was among the first
African artists to warn of the danger of excesses in the
post-colonial era and to call for "a radical change in African
policies."
Former Senegalese president Abdlu Diouf, now secretary general
of the French-speaking club of states the Francophonie, said
that Africa had lost "one its greatest filmmakers" and a
"fervent defender of liberty and social justice."
A tribute from the Malian Culture Minister Cheick Oumar Sissoko,
himself a filmmaker and a friend of Sembene, said that "African
cinema has lost one of its lighthouses."
"The man only worked fully in Africa and for Africa," he said.
Sembene had "led Africa to understand its identity and build its
cultural horizon."
Cheikh Ngaido Ba, president of the Senegalese directors'
association, said a "great master" had died.
"For him the cinema was the best school to tell stories."
Sembene's funeral was due to take place Monday.
Francoise Pfaff, professor of French
and Francophone Studies at Howard University, has edited an
in-depth analysis of Africa's newest and least-known art form.
This critical collection presents the aspirations and issues
expressed in African films, their significance in world culture,
and their enrichment of our intercultural heritage.
Dr.
Pfaff is an internationally recognized expert on Francophone
African cinema and the author of
The Cinema of Ousmane
Sembene, A Pioneer of African Film and
Twenty-five Black
African Filmmakers. Joining Dr. Pfaff in the presentation
will be Dr. Maria Roof of Howard University, one of the
contributors to Focus on African Films.
Copies
of the author's book will be on sale at a book signing following
the program.
*
* * * *
|
Mandabi
(The Money Order)
Directed by Ousmane Sembene (Senegal, 1968)
Director: Ousmane Sembene
Screenplay: Ousmane Sembene
Cast: Mamadou Guye, Ynousse D'Diaye, Issa Niang,
Serigne N'Diayes.
|
 |
Modern Dakar is the setting for this comic
yet heartbreaking story about Ibrahim Dieng, a faithful Moslem
who lives there with his two wives and seven children. This
simple man, although he has been out of work for four years,
lives with dignity, until one day he receives a money order from
his nephew living in Paris. This dubious windfall threatens to
destroy the traditional fabric of his life.
90 minutes, in Wolof with English subtitles. *
* * * *
Xala Starring:
Fatim Diagne, Makhouredia Gueye Director: Ousmane Sembene
It is the dawn of Senegal's independence
from France, but as the citizens celebrate in the streets we
soon become aware that only the faces have changed. White money
still controls the government. One official, Aboucader Beye,
known by the title "El Hadji," takes advantage of some of that
money to marry his third wife, to the sorrow and chagrin of his
first two wives and the resentment of his nationalist daughter.
But he discovers on his wedding night that he has been struck
with a "xala," a curse of impotence. El Hadji goes to comic
lengths to find the cause and remove the xala, resulting in a
scathing satirical ending.
*
* * * *
The Cinema of Ousmane
Sembene, A Pioneer of African Film
By Francoise Pfaff
The films of
Ousmane Sembene are powerful representations of the newly
emerging black African cinema. In this interpretive study of his
most significant films, Francoise Pfaff examines Sembene's
pioneering efforts over the last two decades. While focusing
primarily on the realistic and symbolic levels of his works, the
stylistic and technical aspects are also examined. Pfaff
discusses the aesthetic, sociopolitical, and metaphysical values
of Sembene's oeuvre within its African context. His depiction of
the tension between traditional and modern African life is
explored. Pfaff includes film stills and excerpts from
interviews with Sembene and other African filmmakers. She
concludes with comments about Sembene's contributions to our
intercultural heritage.
—Publisher
“A
comprehensive yet accessible introduction to black Africa's
foremost filmmaker, Ousmane Sembene. Indeed, Pfaff's work should
serve as the standard reference for some time. The author's
appraisal of Sembene is unabashedly flattering. Nevertheless,
Pfaff's impressive discussion of her subject's genius thoroughly
familiarizes the reader with a director and film area too
frequently neglected in cinema studies.”
—Choice
“Pfaff's book is a major study of a major and very singular
talent of the cinema.”
—Cahiers
du Cinema
*
* * * *
Twenty-five Black
African Filmmakers
By Francoise Pfaff
Black African
motion pictures emerged in the 1960s, at the height of the
sociopolitical upheavals experienced by many nations in the
transition from colonialism to independence. Working mostly with
minimal budgets and limited distribution opportunities, African
filmmakers nevertheless have been consistent prizewinners at
international film festivals. Francoise Pfaff introduces this
developing artistic tradition to American readers with her
informative and highly readable guide to the work of twenty-five
Black African directors.
—Publisher
“The
importance of this work lies in its examination of a 'too often
neglected area of cinema studies,' Black African film. Pfaff
looks in depth at a representative group of significant
filmmakers, e.g. Moustapha Alassane, Safi Faye, and Ousmane
Sembene. Each chapter provides a biography of the cineast, major
themes of his/her films, a critical survey, filmography, and a
bibliography that includes interviews of and film
reviews/studies of each filmmaker. Pfaff, author of The Cinema
of Ousmane Sembene, clearly demonstrates her expertise in Black
African cinema. The entries are well researched. They are also
extremely interesting because they include information taken
from personal interviews with the filmmakers, and offer a
variety of viewpoints. Stills of selected films, a general
bibliography, and index complete this overall fine work.”
—Choice
“An invaluable work on black African cinema has at last appeared
in English. Francoise Pfaff's volume synthesizes relevant
information, devoid of hagiography, about twenty-five
sub-Saharan African filmmakers, according a separate
chapter--consisting of a biography, filmography, and thematic
analyses of individual films--to each. Varying critical
viewpoints are brought to bear from both African and non-African
perspectives. The author has gone beyond translation and
compilation to explore the decades of black African cinema
within the historical context of the continent's problematic
emancipation. . . . Twenty-Five Black African Filmmakers offers
enormous insight along with valuable data heretofore unavailable
in English.”
—Cineaste
“This much-needed book on a neglected area of world cinema
presents a chapter on each of twenty-five directors whose films
have significantly enriched African filmmaking and received
substantial international exposure. Each chapter includes a
biography, a breakdown of the films and major themes, a survey
of criticism written by both African and non-African critics,
filmography, and bibliographic information for further reading.”
—The Bloomsbury Review
posted 26 January 2005
* * *
* *
Marketing Ghana as a Mecca for the African-American Tourist—The
Afro-American tourist market constitutes an important niche
market. At the moment, the U.S.A is Ghana's second highest
tourist generating market with the U.K being the first. In 2003,
some 27,000 tourists arrived in Ghana from the Americas.
Approximately 10,000 were African-Americans. Also, about a
thousand are living and working in Accra. The African-American
tourist market is Ghana's niche market because it has the
greatest growth potential in terms of arrivals and receipts.
This is because the African-American tourist of today is more
interested in exploring his/her cultural and historical
heritage; the very products that Ghana offers. Also, they have a
$300 billion spending power and spend 98% of their household
income. The total income of this segment of the American
population is the largest of all the ethnic groups at $485 and
projected to reach $1.01 trillion by 2010. In a 2000 Gallup poll
commissioned by the National Summit on Africa, 73% of
African-Americans were interested in learning more about Africa.— ModernGhana
*
* * * *
Strange Fruit Lynching Report
/
Anniversary of a Lynching
Willie
McGhee Lynching /
My Grandfather's Execution
Dr. Robert Lee Interview /
African American dentist in Ghana
*
* * * *
Bob Marley—
Exodus
Bob Marley was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was
the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska,
rocksteady and reggae bands The Wailers (19641974) and Bob
Marley & the Wailers (19741981). Marley remains the most widely
known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited for
helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement
(of which he was a committed member), to a worldwide audience.
|
Exodus
Exodus:
movement of jah people! oh-oh-oh, yea-eah!
Men and people will fight ya down (tell me why!)
When ya see jah light. (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!)
Let me tell you if youre not wrong; (then, why? )
Everything is all right.
So we gonna walk - all right! - through de roads of
creation:
We the generation (tell me why!)
(trod through great tribulation) trod through great
tribulation.
Exodus, all right! movement of jah people!
Oh, yeah! o-oo, yeah! all right!
Exodus: movement of jah people! oh, yeah!
Yeah-yeah-yeah, well!
Uh! open your eyes and look within:
Are you satisfied (with the life youre living)? uh!
We know where were going, uh!
We know where were from.
Were leaving babylon,
Were going to our father land.
2, 3, 4: exodus: movement of jah people! oh, yeah!
(movement of jah people!) send us another brother
moses!
(movement of jah people!) from across the red sea!
(movement of jah people!) send us another brother
moses!
(movement of jah people!) from across the red sea!
Movement of jah people!
Exodus, all right! oo-oo-ooh! oo-ooh!
Movement of jah people! oh, yeah!
Exodus!
Exodus! all right!
Exodus! now, now, now, now!
Exodus!
Exodus! oh, yea-ea-ea-ea-ea-ea-eah!
Exodus!
Exodus! all right!
Exodus! uh-uh-uh-uh!
Move! move! move! move! move! move!
Open your eyes and look within:
Are you satisfied with the life youre living?
We know where were going;
We know where were from.
Were leaving babylon, yall!
Were going to our fathers land.
Exodus, all right! movement of jah people!
Exodus: movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Move! move! move! move! move! move! move!
Jah come to break downpression,
Rule equality,
Wipe away transgression,
Set the captives free.
Exodus, all right, all right!
Movement of jah people! oh, yeah!
Exodus: movement of jah people! oh, now, now, now,
now!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Move! move! move! move! move! move! uh-uh-uh-uh!
Move(ment of jah people)!
Move(ment of jah people)!
Move(ment of jah people)!
Move(ment of jah people)! movement of jah people!
Move(ment of jah people)!
Move(ment of jah people)!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
|
*
* * * *
Relations
Between Africans and African Americans: Misconceptions, Myths
and Realities
By
Godfrey Mwakikagile
(Grand
Rapids, Michigan: National Academic Press, 2005) 302 pages
Chapter Four: The Attitude of Africans Towards African Americans
Chapter Six: Misconceptions About Each Other
* * *
* *
Chiefs in Cape
Coast, Ghana /
Grand Durbar Parade
* * *
* *
|
Dentist Dr. Robert Lee
Championed African-American Community in
Ghana
In the
mid-1950s, Dr. Robert Lee, a dentist from
South Carolina, moved to Ghana to escape
racism in the south. Over the next half
century, Lee became a fixture in the
African-American community in the West
African country. Dr. Lee died on Monday,
July 5th at the age of 90. But few here in
his home state, or in the States at all,
knew of his work. But in Ghana, he made a
name for himself. Dr. Robert Lee, trained as
a dentist, moved to Accra in the mid-1950s.
Over the past half century, Lee became a
fixture in the black American ex-patriot
community in Ghana.
NPR
Host Michel Martin talks to NPR West African
correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton about his
life and legacy.
Dr. Robert Lee NPR Interview
Dentist Championed
African-American Community In Ghana
Dr Robert Lee passes on
|
 |
| |
Dr. Robert Lee (right) in
2009 with Kwame Zulu Shabazz |
*
* * * *
The State of African Education
(April 200)
Attack On Africans Writing Their Own History Part 1 of 7
Dr Asa
Hilliard III speaks on the assault of academia on Africans writing and
accounting for their own history.
Dr Hilliard is A teacher,
psychologist, and historian.
Part 2 of 7
/
Part
3 of 7 /
Part 4 of 7
/
Part 5 of 7 /
Part 6 of 7 /
Part 7 of 7
*
* * * *
The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery
*
* * * *
The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
* * * *
*
Basil Davidson's "Africa Series"
Different
But Equal /
Mastering A Continent /
Caravans
of Gold /
The King and the City /
The Bible and The Gun
West Africa Before the Colonial Era: A
History to 1850
By
Basil Davidson
*
* * * *
 |
Blacks in Hispanic Literature: Critical Essays
Edited by
Miriam DeCosta-Willis
Blacks in Hispanic Literature is a
collection of fourteen essays by scholars and
creative writers from Africa and the Americas.
Called one of two significant critical works on
Afro-Hispanic literature to appear in the late
1970s, it includes the pioneering studies of
Carter G. Woodson and
Valaurez B. Spratlin, published in the 1930s, as
well as the essays of scholars whose interpretations
were shaped by the Black aesthetic. The early
essays, primarily of the Black-as-subject in Spanish
medieval and Golden Age literature, provide an
historical context for understanding 20th-century
creative works by African-descended, Hispanophone
writers, such as Cuban
Nicolás Guillén and Ecuadorean poet, novelist,
and scholar
Adalberto Ortiz, whose essay analyzes the
significance of Negritude in Latin America. This
collaborative text set the tone for later
conferences in which writers and scholars worked
together to promote, disseminate, and critique the
literature of Spanish-speaking people of African
descent. . . .
Cited by a
literary critic in 2004 as "the seminal study in the
field of Afro-Hispanic Literature . . . on which
most scholars in the field 'cut their teeth'."
|
* *
* * *
|
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
|
 |
* * * * *
The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
* *
* * *
Ancient African Nations
* * * * *
If you like this page consider making a donation
* * * * *
Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
1950
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
____ 2005
Enjoy!
* * * * *
The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
* *
* * *
The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
* * * * *
* *
* * *
updated 5 November 2007
|
