SCREENING IN THE BERNARD OSHER FOUNDATION AUDITORIUM
Screens as part of “Inside/Outside,” a series of films expanding on the questions posed by “Outside the Frame: Todd Webb in Africa.”
111 minutes. Not Rated. Directed by Paulin Soumanou Vieyra. In various languages with English subtitles.
Overlooked for too long, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (1925–1987) should be seen as one of the most important and influential figures in the development of African cinema. Born in Benin and later based in Senegal, Vieyra was one of the first Black Africans to direct a film, AFRICA ON THE SEINE, a moving and thoughtful documentary about young Africans studying in Paris. His later works included LAMB, a revelatory and stirring study of beachside Senegalese wrestling, and BEHIND THE SCENES: THE MAKING OF “CEDDO,” a firsthand document from the set of Ousmane Sembène’s revolutionary classic. In addition to his filmmaking, Vieyra was founder of the Fédération Panafricaine des Cinéastes and a crucial mentor to key filmmaking figures like Sembène, Djibril Diop Mambéty, and Ababacar Samb-Makharam.
Lamb (1963), 18 minutes.
L’Envers du décor, a.k.a. Ousmane Sembène: The Making of Ceddo (1980), 25 minutes.
Africa on the Seine (1955), 22 minutes.
A Nation Is Born (1961), 19 minutes.
Môl (1966), 27 minutes.
PMA Films would like to thank African Film Festival, Inc. for their invaluable assistance in curating “Inside/Outside.”