From November 30th until December 3rd , New York’s Film Forum will honor the tremendous work of Africa’s most important filmmaker, the late Sembène Ousmane. Although he only started making movies when he was in his early 40’s Ousmane, who passed away last June, is considered to be the father of African cinema. The Senegalese, who was already a well-respected novelist in the 1960’s, decided to study filmmaking, as he strongly believed cinema to be the best way to reach out to the masses, “everything can be filmed and transported to the most remote village in Africa”, he said back in 2005. During his career, he adapted most of his novels into films, starting with Black Girl which earned him the prestigious Prix Jean Vigo in 1966, a first for an African filmmaker at the time. The retrospective will feature 10 movies in which the director deals with social issues such as polygamy, religion, the role of women in society, and political corruption. He dissects post-colonial West African society, and show it as it is. Sembène Ousmane highlights the constant struggle between tradition, and newly adopted “western” values. His characters are everyday heroes that sometimes fall victim to their own fate. Sembene had faith that a prosperous future for his continent could not be attained without the full participation of women, and most of films focus on strong females characters. The best examples are Dounia, the tragic heroin of “Black Girl” (1965) and Colle in “Moolaadé” (2005) who fiercely fights female circumcision in her village. “In Africa”, he ironically said, “you don’t make movies to earn a living, but to communicate.” (”En Afrique, on ne fait pas de cinema pour vivre, mais pour communiquer.”) Sembène was well aware of the lasting power of image and sound, and his films rest as a testimony to his love and faith in Africa. For more information about the screenings go here.