Toolkit: Senegal on the screen
Toolkit: Senegal on the screen
Senegal has often been heralded as the capital of African cinema. As Claire Andrade-Watkins (1993:30) puts it, during the first two decades following the independence of African countries from France, Senegal was “at the epicentre” of the film production. The country is the home of Ousmane Sembène (1923-2007), known as the “father” of African cinema despite the filmmaker’s reluctance to the term. Sembène is the director of one of the first narrative films made in Africa, Borom Sarret (1963, French, 22 min.), and of the first postcolonial feature-length Black African film, La Noire De…/Black Girl (1966, Wolof and French, 65 min.), a milestone in his film career, whose release coincided with the celebration of the First World Festival of Negro Arts, following the independence of Senegal from France in 1960.
It is also the home of Safi Faye (1943- ), who has been referred to as a pioneering woman filmmaker, but who could, in the same way, be considered as the “mother” of African cinema, as the first black African woman to direct a feature-length film that would be commercially distributed, Kaddu Beykat / Letter from the Village (1975, 90 min.). They both have played a crucial role in the decolonisation and womanisation of the gaze.
Senegalese, Cinema, Senegal, Africa, Film, Teaching
1-10
Sendra, Estrella
649e182a-2efe-4202-bef9-cbd28bc6f496
6 April 2020
Sendra, Estrella
649e182a-2efe-4202-bef9-cbd28bc6f496
Sendra, Estrella
(2020)
Toolkit: Senegal on the screen.
In Decolonising Film and Screen Studies Nigeria Workshop - Toolkits.
Screen Worlds.
.
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
Senegal has often been heralded as the capital of African cinema. As Claire Andrade-Watkins (1993:30) puts it, during the first two decades following the independence of African countries from France, Senegal was “at the epicentre” of the film production. The country is the home of Ousmane Sembène (1923-2007), known as the “father” of African cinema despite the filmmaker’s reluctance to the term. Sembène is the director of one of the first narrative films made in Africa, Borom Sarret (1963, French, 22 min.), and of the first postcolonial feature-length Black African film, La Noire De…/Black Girl (1966, Wolof and French, 65 min.), a milestone in his film career, whose release coincided with the celebration of the First World Festival of Negro Arts, following the independence of Senegal from France in 1960.
It is also the home of Safi Faye (1943- ), who has been referred to as a pioneering woman filmmaker, but who could, in the same way, be considered as the “mother” of African cinema, as the first black African woman to direct a feature-length film that would be commercially distributed, Kaddu Beykat / Letter from the Village (1975, 90 min.). They both have played a crucial role in the decolonisation and womanisation of the gaze.
Text
Toolkit 5: Senegal on the Screen
- Version of Record
More information
Published date: 6 April 2020
Keywords:
Senegalese, Cinema, Senegal, Africa, Film, Teaching
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 445968
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/445968
PURE UUID: e7b33b8e-fd2a-4650-8199-b4bff9acb54b
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 18 Jan 2021 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 10:30
Export record
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
