Black Girl (1965)

Ousmane Sembène lifts the mask on France’s racist post-colonial relationship with Senegal in his small yet commanding feature debut.

“In only 59 minutes, Ousmane Sembène eviscerates the myth of ‘liberté, égalité, fraternité ’. Blistering in its examination of so-called postcolonialism, the film’s rigour also speaks to Sembène’s brilliant craft.” Kiva Reardon

“Its pared-back narrative, featuring an outstandingly underplayed performance by Mbissine Thérèse Diop, is a searing example of Black feminine refusal.” Jenny Chamarette

“It’s rebellious and completely relevant today.” Bina Paul Venugopal

“Astonishingly beautiful, with a gauzy lyrical magic to the images that would go on to become Sembène’s signature.” Leila Latif

1965 Senegal, France
Directed by
Ousmane Sembène
Featuring
Toto Bissainthe, Thérèse N'bissine Diop, Anne-Marie Jelinek
Running time
60 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Black Girl

Critics

Nico Baumbach
USA
Georgie Carr
UK
Jenny Chamarette
UK
Graiwoot CHULPHONGSATHORN
Thailand
Manohla Dargis
USA
Claire Diao
France/Burkina Faso
Carlos Escolano
Spain
Veronica Fitzpatrick
USA
Marc Francis
USA
Adriano Garrett
Brazil
Racquel J. Gates
USA
June Givanni
UK
Belinda van de Graaf
Netherlands
Malini Guha
Canada
Sandra Hebron
UK
Maori Holmes
USA
Georgia Korossi
UK/Greece
Leila Latif
UK/Sudan
Sofie Cato Maas
Netherlands
Luke McKernan
UK
Isabelle McNeill
UK
Tom McSorley
Canada
Lakshmi Padmanabhan
USA
Bina Paul Venugopal
India
Kiva Reardon
USA
Mayukh Sen
USA
Sanghita Sen
UK
Caitlin Smith
UK
Can Sungu
Turkey/Germany
T A P E Collective
UK
Rosie Taylor
UK

Directors

Desiree Akhavan
USA
Imruh Bakari
Saint Kitts and Nevis/UK
Amanda Egbe
UK
Nana Mensah
USA/Ghana
Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
Lesotho/Germany
Sir Horace Ové
UK
Laura Poitras
USA

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