African Film Archive

Borom Sarret

1963 — Ousmane Sembene — Senegal

short · drama · liberation

Ousmane Sembene's directorial debut follows a cart driver through one day in Dakar as he is repeatedly shortchanged and exploited by his fares, and is widely cited as the first film made in Sub-Saharan Africa by a Black African director.

Fun fact: Sembene had already published several novels before turning to filmmaking in his thirties, later studying at the Gorky Film Studio in Moscow.

Notes: Frequently called the first Sub-Saharan African film, though this claim is disputed by some historians who point to earlier works such as Song of Khartoum, Sarzan, and Mouramani.

Verification: verified · Sources: [1] [2] [3]

Poster source: Wikipedia