Ousmane Sembène
BOROM SARRET  

Ousmane Sembène was a writer and director from Senegal, his early short film Borom Sarret was completed in 1966 and it is considered the first film made in Africa by a black African. The film was shoot in Dakar and it focuses on the social life of the locals dealing with the post colonial conditions, struggling between tradition and uprising modernity. Main character of the film is a poor cart driver, who tries to make a living by driving passengers around Dakar, however he is never getting paid because his passengers are equally poor as him. After a chain of events the driver is left without his vehicle, because a well situated man, tricks the driver of  driving him in to the wealthier part of the city, police man stops him and charges him a fine, he pays the penalty by giving away his vehicle. At the end of the day he has no money and he lost his  cart so his wife goes in the night to prostitute herself in order to feed her family.

Borrom Saret is a lucid portrait of poverty, marginalization and class segregation.

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Interview with Ousmane Sembène :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/jun/05/features

Film stills from Borrom Sarret (18″, 1966)