Black Girl (1966)
"La noire de..." (original title)

A black girl from Senegal becomes a servant in France.

Director:

Ousmane Sembene

Writer:

Ousmane Sembene

Stars:

Mbissine Thérèse Diop, Anne-Marie Jelinek, Robert Fontaine

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview:
Mbissine Thérèse Diop	...	Diouana
Anne-Marie Jelinek	...	Madame (as Anne-Marie Jelinck)
Robert Fontaine	...	Monsieur
Momar Nar Sene	...	Diouana's Boyfriend
Ibrahima Boy	...	Boy with Mask
Bernard Delbard	...	Young Male Guest
Nicole Donati	...	Young Female Guest
Raymond Lemeri	...	Old Male Guest (as Raymond Lemery)
Suzanne Lemeri	...	Old Female Guest (as Suzanne Lemery)
Philippe	...	Couple's Oldest Son
Sophie	...	Couple's Daughter
Damien	...	Couple's Youngest Son
Toto Bissainthe	...	Diouana (voice)
Robert Marcy	...	Monsieur (voice)
Sophie Leclerc	...	Madame (voice)

Storyline

A Senegalese woman is eager to find a better life abroad. She takes a job as a governess for a French family, but finds her duties reduced to those of a maid after the family moves from Dakar to the south of France. In her new country, the woman is constantly made aware of her race and mistreated by her employers. Her hope for better times turns to disillusionment and she falls into isolation and despair. The harsh treatment leads her to consider suicide the only way out.

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Plot Keywords:

france | suicide | senegal | maid | servant | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France Senegal

Language:

French

Release Date:

1966 (Senegal)

Also Known As:

Black Girl

Filming Locations:

Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmi Domirev, Les Actualités Françaises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is believed to be the first feature film made by a black African in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Connections

Featured in Twenty Years of African Cinema (1984)

User Reviews

somewhat disturbing African portrait

The print I saw was a bit erratic and grainy, and included one jumpy sequence in color, whereas the rest was in black and white. This is the deceptively simple story of a woman from Senegal who joins a French family in France to be their nanny touches on many cultural, colonial, racial, and emotional issues, and if you look for easy answers, or answers at all, you'll be disappointed. There's a bit of French New Wave to the film, though it's really mostly African, featuring Senegalese music on the soundtrack. The only real flaw I see is that the story is told rather sketchily, with little in the way of clues as to the timing. Do the events take place over the course of a few days or weeks? The ending comes up so quickly that it feels a little forced, though not entirely unexpected.