Dispatches from Cannes: Ousmane Sembene's Films Are Being Digitally Restored
- Text by Sophie Monks Kaufman
“If Africans do not tell their own stories then Africa will cease to exist,” is one of the many brilliant aphorisms spoken by Ousmane Sembene and included in the documentary, Sembene! The filmmaker, writer and freedom-fighter was born in a small village Senegal in 1923 when his county was still under French rule. The inspiring story of how the humbly-born, illiterate village boy taught himself to write and make films and fight for accurate representation of African characters benefits from being co-directed by a close friend and accomplice, Samba Gadjigo.
An early scene in Sembene! documents Gadjigo retirning ‘Gallo Ceddo’ (Rebel House), where Sembene used to reside and welcome fellow creatives until his death in 2007. Chaos has taken over and the biggest casualties are film reel cans. Sembene’s life’s labours are in danger from forces as mundane as natural decay. Gadjigo enlists help to organise the canisters, the first step in the process of restoration. This endeavour is a mere fraction of the documentary – which focuses on charting the growth of the man and the context of his politically daring filmmaking – but that fraction carries the most exciting news: an important director’s legacy has been saved.
A fitting way of celebrating this result was to screen a 4K restoration of Black Girl, Sembene’s first feature, made in 1966. The black and white drama about a girl tricked into leaving Dakar only to be enslaved in France, is rich with the voice of its female lead, Diouana (Mbissine Thérèse Diop). Nearly 50 years on, she is still a fresh and proud screen presence, even as her circumstances damn the society that enables her fate.
Hopefully this screening is just one of many to make use of the work done on restoring Ousmane Sembene’s vital back-catalogue.
You might like
Youthful joy & end-of-era poignancy at a London school prom
Leavers — For several years, Lewis Khan documented young people as they celebrated the last of their school days and the completion of their exams. The series is now collated in a new self-published photobook and short film.
Written by: Zoe Whitfield
A major Nan Goldin exhibition is coming to London
You Never Did Anything Wrong — Opening at the Hayward Gallery in November, the show will debut a new film from the artist and activist, alongside a slate of recent work.
Written by: Jack Dennison-Thompson
Rab’s adventures on film at Love Trails Festival
Adventure Film Night — Taking place between July 2-6, Rab are screening six documentaries at the festival that explore the remarkable world of the adventure sport community.
Written by: Roxana Diba
A portrait of the UK’s oldest boxing club
Learning the Ropes — A new documentary by Ryan Pickard chronicles the hard-edged history of Repton Boxing Club in Bethnal Green, while asking poignant questions about the present and future of the sport in the UK.
Written by: Sydney Lobe
New film spotlights London’s Bubble Club, the party by people with learning disabilities
Radically inclusive clubbing — Produced by Muddled Marauders and currently fundraising for completion, the feature documentary focuses on the inclusive night, which has been in operation since 2005.
Written by: Roxana Diba
Confronting America’s history of violence against student protest
Through A Mirror, Darkly — In May 1970, two separate massacres at American college campuses saw deaths at the hands of the state. Naeem Mohaiemen’s new three-channel film memorialises the brutality.
Written by: Miss Rosen
