Film Screening:

Sembène! 

(Samba Gadjigo & Jason Silverman, 2015, 89 min, Senegal/USA, in English and French w/ English subtitles, Color, DCP) 

-- Introduced by Prof. Josh Gibson (AAHVS/AMI)!

In 1952, Ousmane Sembène, a dockworker and fifth-grade dropout from Senegal, began dreaming an impossible dream: to become the storyteller for a new Africa. Sembène!, a feature-length HD documentary, tells the unbelievable true story of the "father of African cinema," the self-taught novelist and filmmaker who fought, against enormous odds, a monumental, 50-year-long battle to give African stories to Africans. Sembène! is told through the experiences of the man who knew him best, colleague and biographer Samba Gadjigo, using rare archival footage and more than 100 hours of exclusive materials. A true-life epic, Sembène! follows an ordinary man who transforms himself into a fearless spokesperson for the marginalized, becoming a hero to millions. After a startling fall from grace, can Sembène reinvent himself once more?

"A richly crafted documentary that serves as an enlightening tribute to the filmmaker who masterfully tapped into the medium's wide-reaching socio-political potential." - Michael Rechtschaffen, LA Times

"Sembène emerges here as a courageous man dedicated above all else to his art and the vision he felt compelled to express." -- Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice

Cost: Free and open to the public.

Sponsors: Program in Arts of the Moving Image (AMI)