Ousmane Sembène is best known today as a filmmaker, with works such as Le noire de… (Black Girl) (1966), Mandabi (The Money Order) (1968), and Moolaadé (2004). Born in 1923 in Senegal, African film pioneer held a job as a dock worker, fought as a soldier for France in World War II, became active in the labor union movement, and wrote poetry, short stories, and novels before turning to cinema in 1966.
Breaking his backbone in 1951 while unloading a ship allowed Sembène the opportunity to retire from hard labor on the docks and to become an intellectual. With a new job as a switchman, he spent his free time reading voraciously about Marxism and Communism and participating in liberation...
