Hailed as the ‘father of African film,’ Ousmane Sembène was a cinematic revolutionary whose work served as a 'night school' for the people. His ghost still looms large, with critics frequently invoking his name to praise modern films.
Atlantics (2019): Supernatural Realism and Exploitation
Mati Diop’s haunting
feature debut is perhaps the most direct modern descendant of Sembène’s work, and not just because she is his niece. 'Atlantics' tells the story of unpaid construction workers in Dakar who, lost at sea while migrating for a better life, return as spirits to haunt their former boss and reconnect with the women they left behind. Critics immediately drew a line from Sembène’s early films like 'Black Girl,' which exposed the psychic violence and exploitation of neocolonialism, to Diop’s blend of social realism and the supernatural. Where Sembène focused on a single person’s ruin to illustrate a systemic crisis, Diop uses a ghost story to critique the same predatory capitalism, showing how it devours lives and leaves communities to grapple with the loss.
Get Out (2017): Social Critique Through Genre
Jordan Peele’s 'Get Out' uses horror to dissect the insidious nature of liberal racism in America, a tactic Sembène perfected decades earlier with political satire. Critics have noted the parallel between Peele’s 'Sunken Place'—a metaphor for Black disempowerment—and the allegorical impotence in Sembène’s 1975 masterpiece, 'Xala.' In 'Xala,' a wealthy Senegalese businessman is struck with impotence on his wedding night, a curse that symbolizes the failure of the new African bourgeoisie to fulfill the promises of independence. Both filmmakers weaponize genre conventions to make their political points sharp and accessible, embedding potent social commentary within a popular format to reach a broad audience that might otherwise ignore a direct political statement.
Timbuktu (2014): Humanist Resistance to Power
Abderrahmane Sissako’s Oscar-nominated 'Timbuktu' chronicles the occupation of the Malian city by Islamist extremists, but its focus is not on the occupiers—it’s on the quiet, resilient spirit of the citizens. This human-centered approach to depicting life under oppression is a hallmark of Sembène's cinema. While the jihadists ban music, soccer, and laughter, the townspeople resist in small, defiant ways, like a group of youths playing an imaginary soccer match. Sissako, who like Sembène studied film in Moscow, creates powerful tableaus that celebrate cultural persistence over brute force. Critics noted this Sembène-like focus on collective, non-violent resistance and the dignity of ordinary people facing down an absurd and cruel authority.
Les Misérables (2019): The Failures of the State
Set in the Parisian suburb of Montfermeil, the same setting as Victor Hugo’s novel, Ladj Ly’s explosive film portrays the cyclical tensions between marginalized youth and an aggressive police force. The comparison to Sembène lies in its unflinching critique of a post-colonial system failing its most vulnerable citizens. Sembène’s films, like 'Mandabi,' often depicted the maddening bureaucracy and corruption that crushed the common man in newly independent African nations. Ly updates this theme, showing how the French state, for all its revolutionary ideals, perpetuates a cycle of poverty and violence in the banlieues, which are largely populated by immigrants from former colonies. Both directors expose the hypocrisy of a state that preaches equality while practicing oppression.
Difret (2014): Championing Female Agency
One of Sembène’s most enduring legacies is his focus on strong female characters as agents of social change. His final film, 'Moolaadé,' is a powerful indictment of female genital mutilation, centering on a woman who provides sanctuary (moolaadé) to young girls fleeing the practice. Zeresenay Berhane Mehari’s 'Difret' follows a similar path. Based on a true story in Ethiopia, it chronicles the legal battle of a 14-yearold girl who kills her abductor after being kidnapped for marriage. The film, like 'Moolaadé,' highlights the clash between patriarchal tradition and modern law, championing the courageous women—the young girl and her female lawyer—who fight to assert their rights. Critics see in 'Difret' the same spirit that drove Sembène: the belief that true liberation begins when women stand up to oppressive systems.
