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

Director:

Ousmane Sembene

Writer:

Ousmane Sembene (writer)

Release Date:

1966 (Senegal)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A black girl from Senegal becomes a servant in France.

Plot Keywords:

France | Maid | Apartment | African | Flashback

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ousmane Sembene	...	The Teacher (uncredited)

Directed by
Ousmane Sembene

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ousmane Sembene		writer

Produced by
André Zwoboda	....	producer

Cinematography by
Christian Lacoste

Film Editing by
André Gaudier

Camera and Electrical Department
Ibrahima Barro	....	assistant camera
Pathé Diop	....	assistant camera

Production Companies

• Filmi Domirev
• Les Actualités Françaises

Distributors

• Médiathèque des Trois Mondes (2007) (France) (all media)
• New Yorker Films (1969) (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

"La noire de..." - France (original title)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

France | Senegal

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Filmi Domirev

Trivia:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Episode #1.10" (2011)

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.