Ousmane Sembene was a Senegalese author, actor, screenwriter, director, producer, historian, poet, communist organizer and philosopher. He was the first person to ever make a film in an indigenous african language (he often wrote in Senegalese and Lebu Wolof), and he spent much of his life working to dismantle French imperialism, capitalist resource hoarding, and patriarchal violence against women. Heâs one of those historical figures whose biography reads as too cool to be true but he truly was that kind of guy.
Unfortunately, most of his films, especially his later work, are hard to access or purchase in western/anglophone markets- I think the criterion collection carries a few of his older films? That being said, a lot of his books were translated into English and are particularly good- Godâs Bits of Wood and Xala are definitely the most beginner friendly works from his collection and are pretty easy to find second hand. If you enjoy Western authors and artists like Albert Camus, Emile Zola, or Zora Neale Hurston youâll definitely appreciate his writing. His work is also influenced by socialist realism, the Harlem renaissance, and Senegalese oral tradition. Compared to other famous west african writers (like Chinua Achebe, or Ngugi wa Thiongâo) Sembene works a lot of satire, irony, and humor into his writings, and his work really strives towards describing African joy, hardship, and community.
Heâs such a cool artist and deserves to be more commonly known in the West, especially in Anglophone and Francophone cultures :)
