Welcome
We are both excited and honored to present a film and arts festival honoring the life, art and legacy of Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène on Friday and Saturday, November 13 – 14, 2009 at Alumni Hall, located at 4227 Fifth Avenue, at the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland.
Ousmane Sembène (1923 – 2007) produced a vast body of work that spanned more than 50 years. He was an internationally known writer before he embarked on a career as a filmmaker at age 40. During his lifetime in produced nine full-length feature films, five short films, four documentaries, five novels and five collections of short stories. Sembène is internationally known as the “Father of African Cinema” and regarded as one of the most prolific filmmakers of this century. This undertaking is organized by a group of scholars, activists, artists and film aficionados.
This year’s two-day event will screen two films both days and have discussion be led by local scholars. The first day of the festival will include an opening reception and a performance by Youssou West African Dance Ensemble – a regionally-based group of dancers, drummers and stilt walkers from Pittsburgh and Buffalo, New York. Future programming includes an art exhibit in East Liberty on January 1st – Ousmane Sembène’s birthday. The film festival component will be held annually each year the second Friday and Saturday of November and year-round programming is planned.
Events
November 13-14, 2009
DEDICATION:
“Female genital mutilation is practiced in 38 of 54 member states of the African Union.
' Whatever the method used (traditional or modern) to excise is a violation of the woman’s dignity
and integrity. I dedicate Moolaadé to mothers, women who struggle to abolish this legacy of bygone days.”
- Sembène 2004
