The character arc of Ousmane Sembene

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born in 1923 in Ziguinchor, the son of a fisherman. Died 9 June 2007 in Dakar, aged eighty four. Between the two sit an expulsion from school around 1936, manual work from fifteen, war service with the Senegalese Tirailleurs, a stowaway passage to France, years as a docker in Marseille, a first novel in 1956, a turn to film in his forties, a first feature in 1966 and a last film in 2004. The line below draws that whole life in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who was Ousmane Sembene?

His readers could not read, so he learned to make films.

He was a fisherman's son. He attended a madrasa and a French school and fell out with his principal around 1936, which ended his formal education. He worked at whatever there was, moved to Dakar at fifteen, and during the Second World War served with the Senegalese Tirailleurs and the Free French Forces.

Afterwards he stowed away to France and became a docker in Marseille and a labour organiser. He read Claude McKay and Jacques Roumain on the docks, and in 1956 published his first novel, Le Docker Noir, about African workers facing racism. God's Bits of Wood, in 1960, built on a railway strike of 1947 and 1948, is usually called his masterpiece. Xala, in 1973, turned on corruption after independence, which was a harder thing to publish than anti-colonial writing had been.

Then he worked something out that changed the rest of the line. His novels were in French and reached the educated, which in Senegal at that time meant a small minority. Most of the people he was writing about could not read them. So in his forties he went to Moscow to learn to direct, and called film the people's night school. Borom Sarret came in 1963, and Black Girl in 1966, the first sub-Saharan feature by an African director, which won the Prix Jean Vigo. Mandabi followed in 1968, made in Wolof rather than French, so that his audience heard their own language on screen. His last film, Moolaade, came in 2004 and won at Cannes. His line is worth reading because he changed medium in middle age to reach the people he was already writing about.

The moments

Ousmane Sembene's timeline.

The 1930s

Jun 1936

Thrown out of school

Setback, and it changed everything. That was the end of his formal education. Everything after it he taught himself.

The 1940s

~1942

The Tirailleurs

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A colonial soldier in a European war, which shaped a great deal of what he later wrote.

~1948

A stowaway, then a docker

Milestone, and it changed everything. He got to France without a ticket and found his education on the docks.

The 1950s

~1956

Le Docker Noir

Milestone, and it changed everything. A docker, writing a novel about dockers, at thirty three.

The 1960s

~1960

God's Bits of Wood

Milestone, and it changed his direction. The book he is still taught for, built out of a strike he had lived near.

1 Jun 1961

Keep writing, or learn film

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: go and learn to direct, taken, or keep writing novels. Black Girl in 1966 was the first sub-Saharan feature by an African director, and he is called the father of African cinema.

~1962

His readers could not read

Setback, and it changed everything. He was writing about people who could not read the books. So the books were not enough.

~1963

Borom Sarret

Milestone, and it changed everything. A first short, made in his forties, in a medium he had just gone and learned.

Jun 1966

Black Girl

Milestone, and it changed everything. The first. Not his first: the first there had ever been.

~1968

Mandabi, in Wolof

Milestone, and it changed everything. Not in French. In the language his audience actually spoke, which was the whole point.

The 1970s

~1975

Xala

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Criticising the new governments, which was harder to publish than criticising the old empire.

The 2000s

15 May 2004

Moolaade, at eighty one

Milestone, and it changed everything. Eighty one years old, and still making the film nobody else would.

The line ends 9 Jun 2007, in Dakar, at eighty four. What it set moving is a whole cinema: before Black Girl there was no sub-Saharan feature by an African director, and every one since stands on a docker who started over at forty.

What he wrote

Books by Ousmane Sembene

1960
God's Bits of Wood
1973
Xala
1975
Tribal Scars

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Ousmane Sembene: frequently asked questions

What people ask about his line.

What was Ousmane Sembene's character arc?

A fisherman's son expelled from school who worked as a soldier and a docker, taught himself to write, published a novel at thirty three, and then learned to direct films in his forties because his readers could not read.

Why did Ousmane Sembene start making films?

Because his novels were in French and reached only the educated, which meant most of the people he wrote about could not read them. He went to learn directing and called film the people's night school.

What is Black Girl by Ousmane Sembene?

His 1966 film, the first sub-Saharan feature made by an African director, which won the Prix Jean Vigo. It followed his first short, Borom Sarret, of 1963, and is where African cinema as a body of work begins.

Why is Ousmane Sembene called the father of African cinema?

Because before Black Girl in 1966 there was no sub-Saharan feature film by an African director. He also made Mandabi in 1968 in Wolof rather than French, so that his audience heard their own language on screen.

What novels did Ousmane Sembene write?

Le Docker Noir in 1956, about African workers facing racism, and God's Bits of Wood in 1960, built on a railway strike of 1947 and 1948, which is usually called his masterpiece. Xala followed in 1973.

What did Ousmane Sembene do before writing?

Manual work of every kind. He was expelled from school around 1936, moved to Dakar at fifteen, served with the Senegalese Tirailleurs during the war, stowed away to France, and worked as a docker in Marseille.

What was Ousmane Sembene's last film?

Moolaade, released in 2004 when he was eighty one. It addressed female genital mutilation and won awards at Cannes, and it is a fair measure of him that the last film he made was the one nobody else would have made.

Where does this timeline of Ousmane Sembene's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Ousmane Sembene isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

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Sources

Ousmane Sembene, English Wikipedia biography.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Ousmane Sembene.
Prix Jean Vigo, 1966 award record.