BLACK GIRL (1966) with BOROM SARRET

60th Anniversary
BLACK GIRL [LA NOIRE DE…]
Ousmane Sembène, one of the greatest and most groundbreaking filmmakers ever and the most internationally renowned African director of the 20th century, made his feature debut in 1966 with the brilliant and stirring BLACK GIRL. Sembène, who was also an acclaimed novelist in his native Senegal, transforms a deceptively simple plot — about a young Senegalese woman who moves to France to work for a wealthy white couple and finds that life in their small apartment becomes a figurative and literal prison — into a complex, layered critique on the lingering colonialist mindset of a supposedly postcolonial world. Featuring a moving central performance by Mbissine Thérèse Diop, BLACK GIRL is a harrowing human drama as well as a radical political statement — and one of the essential films of the 1960s. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Ousmane Sembène, from his short story; PROD André Zwoboda. Senegal/France, 1966, b&w, 60 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

BOROM SARRET
The genesis of Black African cinema can be traced to this short, stark masterpiece that chronicles a day in the life of a Dakar cart driver. DIR/SCR/PROD Ousmane Sembène. Senegal, 1963, b&w, 20 min. In French and Wolof with English subtitles. NOT RATED

BOROM SARRET was restored in 2013 by the Cineteca di Bologna/L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory and Éclair, in association with The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project; INA, Institut National de l’Audiovisuel; and the Sembène Estate. Restoration funded by Doha Film Institute.

Run Time: 80 Minutes

Opening Date: Sunday, June 14, 2026

Genre: Drama

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