| Xala | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Ousmane Sembène |
| Screenplay by | Ousmane Sembène |
| Based on | Xala by Ousmane Sembène |
| Produced by | Filmi Domireve SNC |
| Starring | Thierno Leye Seune Samb Douta Seck Younousse Sèye Fatim Diagne Myriam Niang |
| Cinematography | Georges Caristan Orlando L. López Seydina D. Saye Farba Seck |
| Edited by | Florence Eymon |
| Music by | Samba Diabara Samb |
Production companies | Films Domireew Société Nationale Cinématographique |
| Distributed by | New Yorker Films (USA) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 121 minutes |
| Country | Senegal |
| Languages | French Wolof |
Xala (pronounced [ˈxala], Wolof for "temporary sexual impotence"[1]) is a 1975 Senegalese satirical comedy film written and directed by Ousmane Sembène, an adaptation of Sembène's 1973 novel of the same name. It stars Thierno Leye, Seune Samb, Douta Seck, Younousse Sèye, Fatim Diagne, and Myriam Niang.
The plot depicts El Hadji, a rich businessman in Senegal, who is cursed with crippling erectile dysfunction upon the day of his marriage to his third wife; that could only be cured by him stripping naked before the lowly of the society and have them spit on him.[2] The film satirizes the corruption in African post-independence governments; El Hadji's impotence symbolizes the failure of such governments to be useful at all.[3]
- ^ "Xala". filmreference.com. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
- ^ Ousmane, Sembene (1973). Xala.
- ^ Malcolm, Derek (21 December 2000). "Ousmane Sembene: Xala". Century of Films. The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-07-11.