When approaching the topics of gender equality and feminism in Africa, many artists and writers come to mind as early advocates for women through their artistic and literary engagement. However, one of the loudest and most resounding of these voices was that of filmmaker Ousmane Sembène (1923–2007), who has been described as “the grandfather of African cinema.”
As women’s history month draws to a close, we invite you to explore some of the scholarship about Sembène, whose work challenges Western notions of gender and sexuality. The non-exhaustive bibliography below explores some of his most powerful female characters and their stories of resistance and resilience. Sembène’s female protagonists take the lead in films where race, gender, and class intersect in complex ways, reminding us how different forms of discrimination imposed on women interact with and compound each other over time. For Sembène, categories of gender and sexuality are not fixed or universal, but are social constructions shaped by historical context and cultural values. Annotations below appear in chronological order by publication date.
