La Noire De… ( Black Girl ) is the first full length feature of acclaimed Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène.
Released in 1966, the film is considered by many to be the first film
out of Sub-Saharan Africa to receive international attention. It
received the Prix Jean Vigo for first feature… Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum places it on his “1000 Essential Films” List.
The film tells the story of Diouana, a young Senegalese girl hired as a nanny for a white family residing in her country. As they prepare to return to their native France, Diouana is asked to go back with them. Desperate to escape the limited horizons of her poor African village and ecstatic at the prospect of an adventurous parisian existence, she promptly accepts. Never could she have envisioned the tragic fate that awaits her in Paris….
Every time I watch "Black Girl", I'm always struck by how much it is seemingly influenced by the French New Wave which is slightly ironic considering how much of a harsh commentary it makes on french colonialism and racism.
The film tells the story of Diouana, a young Senegalese girl hired as a nanny for a white family residing in her country. As they prepare to return to their native France, Diouana is asked to go back with them. Desperate to escape the limited horizons of her poor African village and ecstatic at the prospect of an adventurous parisian existence, she promptly accepts. Never could she have envisioned the tragic fate that awaits her in Paris….
Every time I watch "Black Girl", I'm always struck by how much it is seemingly influenced by the French New Wave which is slightly ironic considering how much of a harsh commentary it makes on french colonialism and racism.
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