Focus on African Filmmakers: Sembène and Sissako

Four February screenings for Nova Scotia’s celebration of African History Month will include two films each from that continent’s founding father of cinema, Ousmane Sembene, along with a pair of works by one of Africa’s most exciting new cinematic voices, Abderrahmane Sissako.

Screenings Tuesdays at 5:00 pm

February 3- Mandabi/The Money Order

Ousmane Sembene, Senegal, 1969, 100 minutes. The premiere full-length feature from the acknowledged father of African Film, Mandabi is a poignant comedy about the fate of money set home to Senegal from an emigre Paris street sweeper. Funny, fast paced and full of pointed observations, Sembene’s debut announced an original cinematic voice for Africa. 

February 10- Moolaadé

Ousmane Sembene, Senegal, 2004, 124 minutes. Sembene’s final feature follows the story of a village in turmoil when young women refuse female circumcision, defying long-held patriarchal traditions.

February 17- Life On Earth

Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritania, 1999, 65 minutes. Sissako is perhaps Africa’s most exciting new filmmaker with a style that is both serene and deceptively random. A vivid and compassionate look at everyday village lives, Life On Earth reveals an astonishing new vision of African Cinema.

February 24- Waiting For Happiness

Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritania, 2003, 91 minutes. Sissako’s latest feature is a sumptuous examination of the limbo felt by seaside Africans waiting to emigrate; while nothing seems to happen, a sense of transcendence eventually emerges from the curious inertia and arid desert landscapes that dominate the film.