BOROM SARRET

Often considered the first African film made by a black African, Borom Sarret is Ousmane Sembène’s debut film and a clear statement against those who believed that independence had solved all the problems of the Afican people. In Sembène’s words: “it is the story of a cartman who is, to some extent, the taxi driver of a horse-drawn cart. Confronted by a rich customer in a residential district prohibited to such a type of vehicle, a cop stops him, makes a complaint, and seizes the cart. Relieved of his livelihood, the poor fellow remains sadly in his place. His wife entrusts the guardianship of their children to him and leaves, while saying to him, ‘We will eat this evening…'”