File:Ousmane_Sembène_(1987)_by_Guenter_Prust.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Ousmane Sembène
Sign in to saveAlso known as Ousmane Sembene, Father of African Cinema, Sembene Ousmane
Senegalese film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author (1923–2007)
OverviewAI-generated
Ousmane Sembène (1923–2007) was a Senegalese film director, producer, actor, and playwright. Born in Ziguinchor, he served in the Senegalese Tirailleurs during World War II and was a member of the French Communist Party. He studied at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography and worked primarily in Senegal. His notable films include *Black Girl*, *Mandabi*, *Xala*, and *Ceddo*.
Sembène received several awards, including the Officer of the Legion of Honour, Carrosse d'or, Prix Jean Vigo, and Un Certain Regard. He was nominated for the European Film Award for Best Non-European Film and participated in the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou. His works are held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. He spoke French and Wolof. Sembène died in Dakar and was buried in Yoff.
Synthesized by Vinony from 39 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1923
- Died
- 2007
- Works
- 53
Top works
- L'harmattan
- Ô pays, mon beau peupl!
- Le docker noir
- Voltaïque
- The money-order ; with, White genesis
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Directing · Ziguinchor, Casamance, Senegal
Ousmane Sembène (January 1, 1923 — June 9, 2007), often credited in the French style as Sembène Ousmane in articles and reference works, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The Los Angeles Times considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and he has often been called the "Father of African film."
Known for
- Marseille après la guerre2023
- Sembene! — Himself (archive footage)2015
- Tahar Chériaa: A l'Ombre du Baobab — Self2014
- O Sembene! — Self2013
- Sembène: The Making of African Cinema — Self1994
- Behind the Scenes: The Making of Ceddo — Himself1981
- Ceddo — A Ceddo / Ibrahima (uncredited)1978
- Mandabi — Public Writer at the Post Office (uncredited)1968
- Black Girl — The Teacher (uncredited)1966
via TMDB
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 3
- Total plays
- 56
Tags
<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Ousmane+Semb%C3%A8ne">Read more on Last.fm</a>
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
- Real-time, portable genome sequencing for Ebola surveillance
· 2016 · cited 1,389x
- Molecular Evolution of Zika Virus during Its Emergence in the 20th Century
· 2014 · cited 635x
- Prevalence and factors associated with hidradenitis suppurativa: Results from two case-control studies
· 2008 · cited 524x
- Evaluation of Convalescent Plasma for Ebola Virus Disease in Guinea
· 2016 · cited 449x
- High Rate of Recurrent De Novo Mutations in Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies
· 2017 · cited 436x
via Crossref · CC0
Quotes
- “Striking brutally through the cloud curtain, like the beam from some celestial projector, a single ray of light lashed at the Koulouba, the governor's residence, poised like a sugar castle on the heights that bore its name.”
- “The faces seemed to have lost all trace of personality. As if some giant eraser had rubbed out their individual traits they had taken on a common mask, the anonymous mask of a crowd.”
- “God forgive me, I had forgotten Maimouna.”
- “Today, I will bring back something to eat.”
- “I told you yesterday, Rama, that I couldn’t do anything more for you, or for any of the striker’s families.”
- “El Hadji Abdou Kader Beye was what one might call a synthesis of two cultures: business had drawn him into the European middle class after a feudal African education. Like his peers, he made skillful use of his dual background, for their fusion was not complete.”
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Key facts
- Born
- ( 1923-01-01 ) 1 January 1923, Ziguinchor , Casamance , French West Africa , (now Senegal)
- Died
- 9 June 2007 (2007-06-09) (aged 84), Dakar , Senegal
- Occupation
- Film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, author
- Language
- Wolof , French
- Years active
- 1956–2003
- Notable works
- Borom Sarret (1963) Black Girl (1966) Mandabi (1968)
- Allegiance
- Free France
- Branch
- French Liberation Army Senegalese Tirailleurs
- Service years
- 1944-46
- Conflicts
- World War II Liberation of France
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Senegal
- Place of birth
- Ziguinchor
- Place of death
- Dakar
- Occupation
- prose writer
- Educated at
- Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography
- Political party
- French Communist Party
- Languages spoken
- Wolof
- Notable work
- Borom Sarret
- Participant in
- Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou
- Conflict
- World War II
- Military branch
- Senegalese Tirailleurs
- Image
- Ousmane Sembène (1987) by Guenter Prust.jpg
- Work location
- Senegal
Show 6 more facts
- date of birth
- 1923-01-01
- date of death
- 2007-06-09
- has works in the collection
- Museum of Modern Art
- nominated for
- European Film Award for Best Non-European Film
- place of burial
- Yoff
- Commons category
- Ousmane Sembène
Sources (15)
via Wikidata · CC0
~19 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Ousmane Sembène ( French: [usman sɑ̃bɛn]; 1 January 1923 or 8 January 1923 – 9 June 2007), was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The Los Angeles Times considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and he has often been called the "father of African film".
He was often credited for his work in the French style as Sembène Ousmane, which he seemed to favor as a way to underscore the "colonial imposition" of this naming ritual and subvert it.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Ousmane Sembène” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.