BLACK GIRL
15 Out of Africa… 1966 ★★★★★ OUT NOW BD EXTRAS ★★★★★ Short film, Featurettes, Essay
It’s hard to overstate the impact and influence of Ousmane Sembène (1923-2007) on African cinema. He was the first African to make a short film (1963’s Borom Sarret, included on this Criterion release), before making Black Girl: not only the first feature made by an African but widely – and correctly – considered a masterpiece.
It tells the story of Diouana (Mbissine Thérèse Diop), a young Senegalese woman who travels to Antibes for a nannying job. There, she is degraded and treated with contempt, all while dreaming of the life she once had in Dakar. Sembène’s direction is rooted in an understated lyricism. His use of disembodied voices makes the film wash over you as pure poetry. The evils of colonialism are conveyed with subtlety; yet all the whispers and glances are what slowly dehumanise and crush our heroine.
Part of the power of Black Girl (which was inspired by a true story) is its continued relevance 56 years on. Sumptuous ’60s fashions aside, much of the film feels like it could be present-day Antibes. Its tragedy feels inevitable and universal, as if there are countless Diouanas who have existed and met similar ends. But perhaps most striking are those moments, which play out like a call to arms, showcasing Sembène’s belief that his films were in part political tools, and that justice for the victims of the colonial mindset must be demanded.