HOME Manchester's forthcoming film season offers an insight into Senegalese writer, producer and director Ousmane Sembène's prolific record as a filmmaker aiming to represent the marginalised and voiceless in society, revealing why he was awarded the title of the father of African cinema.
Under the banner of Rebel with a Camera, the season comprises four feature-length screenings, ranging from his 1966 debut about a Senegalese childminder who returns with the child's family to the south of France, Black Girl (Sun 9 October), through to the posthumous documentary, Sembène (2012), compiled by his colleague and biographer Samba Gadjigo, along with Jason Silverman. Gadjigo will also be appearing at HOME for a Q&A after the film on Sat 8 October.
The other films during the season are the colonial satire Xala (1975), which will be shown on Thu 20 October, and Sembène's final film before his death in 2007, Moolaadé (2004), which tackles the horrors of FGM and concludes the Manchester season on Mon 24 October.
The programme of his selected works is also touring the UK between October 2016 and January 2017, sharing his catalogue of African stories for African audience with intercontinental viewers. You can catch all four films across from Inverness to various London venues, with other destinations including Sheffield's Showroom, Keswick's Alhambra and Edinburgh's Filmhouse.
Words: Ian Pennington
Rebel with a Camera: The Cinema of Ousmane Sembène runs at HOME from Sat 8 to Mon 24 October, 2016.
homemcr.org
