A former bricklayer and soldier turned trade union organizer, Ousmane Sembene is widely recognized today as one of the most prolific African writers and film makers. But Sembene’s significance moves beyond the question of his productivity.  He is celebrated today throughout Africa and around the world as the first African creative artist with a “virginal faith” in the redemptive and galvanizing power of art and as a filmmaker who used the barrel of the camera to restore the African self-image.

The recipient of many honors throughout his career, Ousmane Sembene, who died in June at 84, will leave his mark on world cultural history as one of the most talented storytellers of his time and as a rare and solitary African revolutionary who understood the political nature of narratives, their power in shaping our past, our present, and our future. He devoted his life to giving voice to a voiceless continent through the production of narratives countering dominant, hegemonic discourses (political and religious) of the African Islamic and postcolonial elite. Sembene wrote books and made films not for profit but for man’s sake because he believes man is culture. – Samba Gadjigo, Professor of French, Mount Holyoke College