The 1966 film Black Girl from director Ousmane Sembène, will be shown at the Little Art Theatre in Yellow Springs on March 4th. Sembene is considered the father of African cinema and in this WYSO Weekend extra, Assistant Professor of Media Arts at Antioch College, Charles Fairbanks, tells us a little bit about the director and the Film.
More information from Antioch College:
On Saturday March 4, at 1pm, Antioch College professor Charles Fairbanks will present Black
Girl ( La No ire de…), an extraordinary portrayal of racism in post-colonial Senegal that still resonates with audiences around the world. Awarded the Prix Jean Vigo as the year’s best French-language film when it was released in 1966, Black Girl was one of the first films, and certainly the first great film, directed by a black African. Its director, Ousmane Sembène, wrote novels while laboring as a dockworker in France before he became a filmmaker in newly independent Senegal.
The program also includes a short film by Charles Burnett, who the Chicago Tribune calls “one of America’s very best filmmakers” and who the New York Times describes as “ the nation’s least-known great filmmaker and most gifted black director.” Burnett studied film at UCLA, where he formed part of the “L.A. Film Rebellion,” an influential movement of African-American filmmakers working in the shadow of Hollywood.
Professor Fairbanks will introduce the films, and host a conversation afterwards with Basim
Blunt, host of WYSO’s Behind the Groove.
Supported by the 365 project, with additional funding from Richard Lapedes and Maureen
Lynch, admission is FREE and open to the public. However, there is a suggested donation of a
non-expired, non-perishable food item to help stock local food pantries.
For more information, contact Charles Fairbanks at (937) 708-9581 or cfairbanks@antiochcollege.org