Borom Sarret

Borom Sarret
Directed byOusmane Sembène
Written byOusmane Sembène
StarringLy Abdoulay
Narrated byOusmane Sembène
Distributed byAfrican Film Library
Release date
  • 1963 (1963)
Running time
18 minutes
CountrySenegal
LanguageFrench

Borom Sarret or The Wagoner (French: Le Charretier) is a 1963 film by Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène, the first film over which he had full control. It is often called[1] the first film[2] (or first narrative film) made in Africa by an African;[3][4][5] the first "professional" African film;[6] or the first such film to be shown widely outside of Africa.[7][8] However, this is disputed, with some other films, such as Song of Khartoum, Sarzan,[9] and Mouramani having arguably been produced earlier. Thus, some authors refer to it as "among the first" films made in Africa by an African filmmaker.[10][11] Borom Sarret is 18 minutes long and tells a story about a cart driver in Dakar. The film illustrates the poverty in Africa, showing that independence has not solved the problems of its people.[12] It was shown as part of the Cannes Classics section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.[13]

  1. ^ Gabara, Rachel (2020). "Complex Realism: Paulin Soumanou Vieyra and the Emergence of West African Documentary Film". Black Camera. 11 (2): 32–59. doi:10.2979/blackcamera.11.2.03. ISSN 1947-4237. S2CID 219881718.
  2. ^ Loftus, Maria (2010). "The appeal of hybrid documentary forms in West Africa". French Forum. 35 (2/3): 37–55. ISSN 0098-9355. JSTOR 41306661.
  3. ^ Harding, Frances (2003). "Africa and the Moving Image: Television, Film and Video". Journal of African Cultural Studies. 16 (1): 69–84. doi:10.1080/1369681032000169276. ISSN 1369-6815. JSTOR 3181386. S2CID 145268230.
  4. ^ Adesokan, Akin (2008). "The Significance of Ousmane Sembène". World Literature Today. 82 (1): 37–39. ISSN 0196-3570. JSTOR 40159606.
  5. ^ Sendra, Estrella (2020-04-06). "Toolkit: Senegal on the screen". Decolonising Film and Screen Studies Nigeria Workshop - Toolkits. Estrella Sendra. Screen Worlds: 1–10 – via University of Southampton Institutional Database.
  6. ^ M'Mbugu-Schelling, Flora (1991). "In the steps of the pioneers". Index on Censorship. 20 (3): 16–17. doi:10.1080/03064229108535058. ISSN 0306-4220. S2CID 146907165.
  7. ^ Atkinson, Michael (1993). "Ousmane Sembène: 'We are no longer in the era of prophets'". Film Comment. 29 (4): 63–69. ISSN 0015-119X. JSTOR 43453971.
  8. ^ Taylor, Clyde (2021). "Africa, The Last Cinema". Black Camera. 12 (2): 220–235. doi:10.2979/blackcamera.12.2.13. ISSN 1947-4237. S2CID 236664722.
  9. ^ Dovey, Lindiwe (2015). "Through the Eye of a Film Festival: Toward a Curatorial and Spectator-Centered Approach to the Study of African Screen Media". Cinema Journal. 54 (2): 126–132. doi:10.1353/cj.2015.0005. ISSN 0009-7101. JSTOR 43653096.
  10. ^ Fernández, Estrella Sendra (2016). "Samba Gadjigo and Jason Silverman, directors. Sembène! 2015. 90 minutes. Wolof, Peul, French, and English. The Film Sales Company. £200.00". African Studies Review. 59 (2): 317–319. doi:10.1017/asr.2016.73. ISSN 0002-0206. S2CID 151975317.
  11. ^ Sendra Fernandez, Estrella (2019). "Ousmane Sembène's Cinema". Critical Muslim. 30 (1): 73–80.
  12. ^ Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell, Film History: An Introduction, 2nd edition (McGraw Hill, 2003) ISBN 9780070384293, p. 548.
  13. ^ "Cannes Classics 2013 line-up unveiled". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2013-04-30.