Ousmane Sembene

Born on 1st January 1923, Ousmane Sembene, was a Senegalese film director, producer, and writer who is widely recognized as the 'father of African film'. Aged 15, he moved to Dakar where he worked numerous manual labor jobs. During World War II, he served in the Free French Forces and after the war, he returned to Senegal. Meanwhile, Sembene participated in a long railroad strike in 1947, which he later based his seminal novel God's Bits of Wood (1960) on. Ousmane had a keen interest in the oppression of Arab and Spanish workers, xenophobia, and the mistreatment of African immigrants. In 1962, he studied filmmaking at Gorky Film Studio under Soviet director Mark Donskoy.

In 1963, he produced his first film, a short called Barom Sarret (The Wagoner). Meanwhile, in 1966 he produced his first feature film, La Noire de..., which won the Prix Jean Vigo, bringing immediate international attention to African film, and Sembene himself. Besides being a film director and producer, Sembene was also a credible author with seven of his ten published literary works translated into English. Additionally, he had a strong criticism for the corrupt African elites and the failing of religion. On the 9th of June 2007, at the age of 84, Sembene passed away in his home in Dakar, Senegal.