Sembène will be remembered as a seminal master of African filmmaking but his literary talents were also highly remarkable and influential.
On June 9, 2007, Ousmane Sembène, one of Africa's filmmaking pioneers died at his home in Senegal at the age of 84. Many even referred to him as the "father" of African cinema. As a writer, he was also influential attaining the same recognition as Africa's giants of literature, Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka.
Expelled from school at an early age, Sembène still developed a love for reading that would turn him into a self-educated writer. Sembène collected material for his stories through his diverse experiences working in France and Africa as, among other things, an apprentice mechanic, plumber, carpenter, docker and bricklayer. In 1944, he was drafted by the French Army in World War II.
By the 1960s Sembène had realized the potential for film to reach wider audiences than literature and traveled to Moscow to study filmmaking. His first feature-length film, "La Noire de..." (1966) is commonly referred to as the first African film.
Former Senegalese president, Abdlu Diouf, saw Sembène as a "fervent defender of liberty and social justice." While his cinematic endeavours would occasionally cause controversy with French and Senegalese authorities for his representations of French colonialism and African corruption, he was celebrated internationally and inspired many African directors.
Ousmane Sembène will be remembered by his peers as a man who encouraged Africa to realize its identity and confront its cultural destiny during the continent's postcolonial emergence. His impressive oeuvre consists of five novels, five collections of short stories, four short films, nine features, and four documentaries
Quotes from Ousmane Sembène
"The development of Africa will not happen without the effective participation of women. Our forefathers' image of women must be buried once for all."
"At a moral level, I don't think we have any lesson to learn from Europe."
"I benefited from a synthesis of values - in the house, the compound, the country and Koranic and French schools. We conserved our own culture; we had nightly gatherings with tales. Now I call it my own theater."
"Bread came wrapped in French newspapers. Each time my father unwrapped a baguette, he asked me to read to him."
