Black Girl (1966)

In 1966, Senegalese author Ousmane Sembene was among the first Black Africans to shoot a feature film with <i>La Noire de...</i> ("Black Girl"). It deals with the plight of Diouana (Mbissine Thérèse Diop), a Senegalese girl who is hired on as a nanny by a French expat family in Dakar. Initially she is elated to have work, and moreover, work for the country's white elites. After the family returns to France and takes Diouana with her, she finds herself nearly a prisoner, as what should have been an ordinary job with some dignity to it becomes menial drudgery far beyond the initial agreement.

Though the plot is a straightforward drama, Sembene also lends the film a metaphoric dimension to confront the enduring legacy of colonialism in the newly independent Senegal, the desire of some Af...

_Black Girl_ (1966) is a bad movie. I didn’t like it. I know, I know… I’m going to be bashed by others by accusing me of being a racist and/or a sexist and worse yet, claim that I am in favor of domestic slavery, because I am a white male. That is **NOT** so! And no, don’t give me the whole “a good movie doesn’t have to enjoyable” nonsense, because that’s inherently contradictory. There is **NO** difference between a movie you don’t like and a “bad” movie because they pretty much mean the same thing. Hell, I’m sure some people, both black and white, and male and female, thought the movie was bad too, even awful for some, back then. I understand the movie is not exactly designed to be “enjoyed” but nevertheless I will call it “bad” and stop watching it...