Diouanne, a young Senegalese woman, works as a governess for a French family in the city of Dakar. Wanting to see different parts of the world, most notably France, Diouanne accompanies the family as they travel to the Riviera, working as their nanny. Dioanne's excitement to see the world quickly dissipates as her nanny duties are replaced by the indignities of a maid, forced to deal with the drudgery of cooking and cleaning for the members of the household. Ousmane Sembene's Black Girl is regarded as one of the most important films in African Cinema History, a seething commentary on racial identity which ventures into Shakespearean levels of tragedy. Diounne is a character whose hopes and dreams are dashed by this racial identity, leading her to feel imprisoned in the home of her employers, where confrontations are becoming more and more common with her mistress. Diouanne is basically partaking in domestic slavery, finding herself caught in-between the upper-class of French Society and the post-colonial West Africa, who have somewhat alienated her because of her desire to leave Senegal. Sembene's direction is acute and focused, capturing a woman torn between two worlds for no other reason than the color of her skin. Ousmane Sembene's Black Girl shares a similar visual style to French Cinema, being a powerful film about cultural prejudice.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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