Sembène 100 series screens at The Cinematheque from October 12 to 24

Collection of films by Senegalese writer-director Ousmane Sembène oppose conformity

SPONSORED POST BY The Cinematheque

Ousmane Sembène.

The Cinematheque presents the groundbreaking films of Senegalese writer and director Ousmane Sembène (1923–2007) in a series titled Sembène 100 from October 12 to 24.

This will be the first chance to see Sembène’s feature films theatrically in Vancouver—aside from Black Girl, restored in 2016—in many years. The director’s key North American distributor, New Yorker Films, shuttered in 2009, leaving his work subsequently unavailable.

The Cinematheque presents restorations of six key works, including brand-new restorations of Emitaï, Xala, and Ceddo, along with his stirring late-career achievements Guelwaar and Moolaadé, the latter presented from an imported 35mm print.

Born in Casamance in French-colonized Senegal, Sembène produced a body of work that stands in grand opposition to conformity, unafraid of contradictions, censors, or the scandals of colonialism. His pieces intentionally alternate between the urban and rural, and historical and contemporary.

Tickets to Sembène 100 events, plus more details on The Cinematheque’s fall programming, can be found here.

Post sponsored by The Cinematheque.