Moving portrait of the father of African film
Daniel Nelson
‘Don’t meet your heroes’ might be the message from Sembène, a documentary about the
Moolaadé
Image by Moolaadé
But that would be too harsh.
Yes, it was wrong of him to divert funding intended for a young director in order to finance his own film about the French massacre of Senegalese soldiers recently returned from fighting in the Second World War – a work banned for years in both Senegal and France.
Yes, he became autocratic in the same way – though on a far smaller scale – than the post-independence politicians he so deftly skewered (“Most of the heads of state are harmful”).
Yes, in making a feature about FGM he cruelly scared a young girl in the name of authenticity.
And yes, he was a poor father – his son recalls seeing him once a year: “Family was something he could never manage in his life.”
To the first three criticisms, his view was, “You should judge the films not Ousmane Sembène.”
And as his biographer, Samba Gadjigo, a lifelong devotee who plays a key role in this film, comments, “Sembène may have slept with the devil to make his films, but I still believe in him.”
And why not? His films, and his books, are brilliant and important (“He invented a new way to see black people”) : they pack a political punch but are entertaining to watch.
Not bad for a migrant dockworker with little education – until he broke his back lifting a sack of coffee and used the six months he spent recovering on his belly to read, read and read. (“’Did you say this guy is a dockworker?” says Gadjigo, recalling his early reverence. “Did you say he is self-taught? He is god.’ This is how I saw Sembène.”) Not bad, either, for an elderly film-maker still making outstanding movies though he was semi-blind.
Gadjigo’s initial awestruck attempt to persuade Sembène to visit the US to talk to students was rudely dismissed, but perseverance paid: Sembène finally made the journey and gradually came to realise that the young academic was a valuable resource. Their relationship became that of uncle and nephew. Sembène also came to realise that he was more appreciated outside than inside Africa. That must have been a great disappointment, because he was motivated not by foreign adulation, satisfying though it was, but by a determination to work for the continent he loved: “Black people need a black cinema. We need our own heroes.”
After his hero’s death, Gadjigo was shocked to find Sembène’s house in a state of total neglect, with rusting film canisters strewn around: “His legacy is rotting. I can’t let that happen.”
In helping make this documentary - co-writer, co-director, co-producer - Gadjigo has fulfilled his pledge.
· Sembène! is showing at Film Africa on 7 November
+ 'If you take music away, Mali is dead'
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