Oh, Sun!
Soleil Ô
This beautifully restored, prize-winning film offers a scathing attack on colonialism and a shocking exposé of racism.
Gallery
Credits
Dir-Prod-Scr Med Hondo
With Robert Liensol, Théo Légitimus, Gabriel Glissand
Mauritania
1970
98min
Prod Co Grey Films, Shango Films
This excitingly radical, avant-garde, fast-moving and at times surreal drama finds director Med Hondo boldly displaying influences that range from Eisenstein to Godard. Shot on a low budget over four years, Oh, Sun! tells the story of a man from a French colony in West Africa who, encouraged by propaganda, is chosen to emigrate to Paris where he optimistically hopes to make a ‘better’ life for himself. Although an educated man, he has extreme difficulty finding work (employers refuse to hire him before he’s given an interview). He can’t get an apartment because landlords worry he’ll cause trouble. And he’s on the receiving end of condescending sexual advances from women. He faces discrimination from all angles. Prize-winning Med Hondo is a giant of African cinema and Oh, Sun! is a vibrant humanist statement on racism and immigration that remains pertinent today.
Julie Pearce
Additional information
Restored by Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in collaboration with Med Hondo. Restoration funded by the George Lucas Family Foundation and The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project.

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