I was going through some press releases sent to me from the Cannes Press Office this morning—and I came across an interesting article which was written by Jean-Pierre Garcia, the Editor of Le Film Africain & du Sud magazine—talking about how film making began in Africa.

In the article, Jean-Pierre Garcia mentions that “though Sudan’s Gadalla Gubara had been the first African on the continent to make a film with his documentary Song of Karthoum” in 1950, it was the film-Borom Sarret made in 1963 by Senegalese director-Sembène Ousmane that marked the beginning of Africa cinema.

It is an educative piece which throws light on the film-making journey in Africa. If you’ve not read this article already, read it below…

The film that really marked the beginning of African cinema was Borom Sarret (1963) by Senegalese director Sembène Ousmane. Although Sudan’s Gadalla Gubara had been the first African on the continent to make a film with his documentary Song of Karthoum (1950), Sembène Ousmane remains the father figure by common consent. In tackling the story of a cart-driver subjected to the rules and regulations of the new regime, Borom Sarret sides with the poor of Dakar. This short film, which stirred consciousness and spoke out symbolically, led the way for future generations of filmmakers firmly focused on their own continent.

Filmmakers: (re)awakening consciousness

For the “father” of African cinema, the newly gained political independence only made sense if it was accompanied by a restoration of dignity, which had hitherto been suppressed by the weight of the administration and its reductive mechanisms (language, religion, education and the police).

From the outset, cinema became the instrument of choice in this process of re-conquest: images were used to rebuild self-image, as well as the image of every population on the continent. In his cinema seminar at Cannes in 2005, Sembène Ousmane recalled: “I was gripped by a need to ‘discover’ Africa. Not just Senegal, but just about the entire continent…

I became aware that I had to learn to make films if I really wanted to reach my people. A film can be seen and understood even by illiterate people – a book cannot speak to entire populations!” Sembène Ousmane laid the aesthetic foundations of his filmmaking (very close to Italian neo-realism) and set them in a pan-Africanist context.

The initial equation was simple: independent Africa “needed” filmmakers who could (re-)awaken consciousness to counter colonial cinema, which had set out merely to entertain its audience, alienating them in the process.

Around fifteen films made their mark over the course of this first decade (1964-1974). All dealt with either the colonial past and the liberation movements, or cultural assimilation and the problems of the newly independent states (corruption, bureaucracy, the shifting of wealth, etc.)

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