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Having blazed a trail for African filmmakers to tell their own stories on-screen, Senegalese auteur Ousmane Sembène took his career-long project—to unlock cinema’s potential as a vehicle for social change—in increasingly urgent and provocative directions in the 1970s. Searing critiques of colonialism, political corruption, patriarchal arrogance, and religious indoctrination, his three features from this decade—the radical call to resistance Emitaï, the wickedly subversive satire Xala, and the controversial historical epic Ceddo—confirmed his standing as a fearless truth-teller for whom the camera was the ultimate weapon in the fight against oppression in all its forms.

Emitaï 1971
With revolutionary outrage, Ousmane Sembène chronicles a period during World War II when French colonial forces in Senegal conscripted young men of the Diola people and attempted to seize rice stores for soldiers back in Europe. As the tribe’s patriarchal leaders pray and make sacrifices to their gods, the women in the community refuse to yield their harvests, incurring the French army’s wrath. With a deep understanding of the oppressive forces that have shaped Senegalese history, Emitaï explores the strains that colonialism places upon cultural traditions and, in the process, discovers a people’s hidden reserves of rebellion and dignity.

Xala 1975
An adaptation of Ousmane Sembène’s own 1973 novel, Xala is a hilarious, caustic satire of political corruption under an inept patriarchy. On the night of his wedding to his third bride, government official El Hadji (Thierno Leye) is rendered impotent and begins to suspect that one of his other wives has placed a curse on him. After seeking a cure from a local marabout, El Hadji must face the possibility that he deserves the infliction for his part in embezzling public funds and for helping to keep Senegal under French control. Adeptly combining elements of African folklore and popular cinema, Sembène indicts the hubris, entitlement, and opportunism of male authority figures.

Ceddo 1977
In precolonial Senegal, members of the Ceddo (or “outsiders”) kidnap Princess Dior Yacine (Tabata Ndiaye) after her father, the king, pledges loyalty to an ascendant Islamic faction that plans to convert the entire clan to its faith. Attempts to recapture her fail, provoking further division and eventual war between the animistic Ceddo and the fundamentalist Muslims, with Christian missionaries and slave traders from Europe also playing a role in the conflict. Banned in Senegal upon its release, Ceddo is an ambitious, multilayered epic that explores the combustible tensions among ancient tradition, religious colonization, political expediency, and individual freedom.

THREE-DISC SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New 4K digital restorations of all three films, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
New conversation between Mahen Bonetti, founder and executive director of the African Film Festival, and film writer Amy Sall
The Making of “Ceddo,” a 1981 documentary by Paulin Soumanou Vieyra
New English subtitle translations
PLUS: An essay by film scholar Yasmina Price

New cover by Ify Chiejina

Terrible extras, but with these films I almost want to ask who cares. Absolutely amazing set with Xala in particular being one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

Release of the year so far, don't care that the extras are light.

It's also worth noting that Criterion has so far released Sembene's films in chronological order, and we now have 5 of the 9 features he directed.

To hell with context! Grateful for these, but I feel like they're counting on gratitude to gloss over a lack of effort.

I guess the short lived days of the 79.99 price point three film sets are gone. I had high hopes for more releases in that vein, oh well

brundlefly wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2024 5:03 pm To hell with context! Grateful for these, but I feel like they're counting on gratitude to gloss over a lack of effort.

that's basically what they've been doing the last few years, let's be real

Agreed about the shockingly poor extras, though happy to see the making of of Ceddo included.

Also agreed that this is going to be hard to top as release of the year. Well done Criterion.

if I didn't like the other two Sembène that Criterion released, any hope here?

Wondering what happened to Guelwaar which is acquired by Janus along with these films.

the__projectionist wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2024 5:41 pm Wondering what happened to Guelwaar which is acquired by Janus along with these films.

This is ostensibly a boxed set of his 70s features, so I assume it'll get an individual release.

the__projectionist wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2024 5:41 pm Wondering what happened to Guelwaar which is acquired by Janus along with these films.

Given the number of African films Janus has acquired that Criterion has so far not released, I've been half-expecting some kind of survey or introductory box set of African films. There have been several that I wouldn't think would merit an individual release, but who knows what Criterion will or won't release these days. Reminds me of the old pre-Channel, pre-Eclipse days when they would license masses of films and then just sit on them.

This would’ve been a perfect opportunity to include the novel of Xala, which I think has been OOP for years

ryannichols7 wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2024 5:14 pm if I didn't like the other two Sembène that Criterion released, any hope here?

Not sure, honestly. These are the films I've discovered Sembène with (but Emitaï much later after the others). I'd rank them above Mandabi, at least, but after seeing it I think you get a good idea of what Sembène does. Mooladé may still be worth a shot. And it's a very wild card, but I liked Faat Kiné a lot, it's very much like a low budget film made to be seen by a local audience instead of an international one

I tend to give up some directors after a few films I didn't like, but I still watch Mizoguchi films and I don't like his work very much, after 12 films. He's interesting, though.

This sounds a great box set - I've seen Xala but Emitai/Ceddo will be new to me. I wonder if Criterion has rights to Camp de Thiaroye, which is an astonishing film.

thirtyframesasecond wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2024 8:24 pm This sounds a great box set - I've seen Xala but Emitai/Ceddo will be new to me. I wonder if Criterion has rights to Camp de Thiaroye, which is an astonishing film.

Possibly. FWIW, Film Forum programmed a retrospective of Ousmane Sembène's work last September. The main page says "The films of Ousmane Sembène are distributed by Janus FIlms" so I was guessing the DCP's they were screening were for likely candidates for a Criterion reissue. However Camp de Thiaroye was screened in 35mm courtesy of the Harvard Film Archive, which on the one hand was great for the audience but on the other hand a sign that a digital transfer or restoration hadn't been done yet.

Xala, Emitai and Ceddo and only those three were advertised as new 4K restorations, so it seemed like a sure bet we'd get the box set that's now been annonced.

domino harvey wrote: Thu Mar 07, 2024 7:15 pm BFI Film Classics is also releasing a new edition on Xala in May

That's great news! The Sembene releases have been favorites of mine so kudos to Janus for restoring them. But if Criterion's producer on this release doesn't have the budget for more extras could they at least add a recommended reading bibliography? I'm more annoyed at the price point for this one than having to do some extra homework that I would have done anyway.

Anyone have problems with this set scratching their discs? I just alluded to it in a post elsewhere - initially, I thought 2 or 3 discs were scratched, but when I took another look at the third, I spotted some that weren't there before. Really strange, not something I would've missed, but then I noticed the scratches on all three discs were in a band that circled the discs, a tell tale sign that they've been spinning or rotating around something that's scratching them. With that in mind, I immediately noticed that all three plastic digipak holders have this spot on the upper, central area where the plastic seems to rise up in a little bump that isn't so smooth. (Must have something to do with the way the plastic's manufactured, like the last point of contact before whatever dispenses the resin is removed.) If you feel it, it's pretty obvious this is what's scratching the discs.

Emitai is a rather fascinating exploration of the inescapable power of colonialism - one character puts it best by stating their village is bordered by the Portuguese, the English and the sea, with the French their occupiers. Most of the film is spent in inaction - the elders seeking the guidance of their gods while the French hold the village hostage - and while I can't speak to any of the cultural significance of the various animal sacrifices, I did get the sense that Sembene was casting a critical eye towards the elders' prolonged debate when one elder, seemingly in frustration, announces he's going to sacrifice a goat to appease the gods, after the initial chicken sacrifice didn't seem to fulfill this objective, and there's an immediate cut back to the village still occupied by the French.

It would be one thing if Sembene was saying the villagers need to stand up and fight their oppressors, but thankfully his message is more subdued. Each action by the villagers that defies the French is fairly easily stopped by the colonizers, and there's the recognition that a successful rebellion will just lead to further French occupation and retaliation. Instead, Sembene demonstrates the strength of the village through the quiet defiance of the women who hide the rice from the French and sit solemnly in the sun.

Emitai is, I think, best approached as a microcosm of the cruelties perpetuated by colonialism across Africa, where Europeans steal away sons to fight in a distant war, then return to demand more. My favorite scene was the change of French leadership abroad being reflected by de Gaulle's poster replacing his predecessor's, with the loyal Black French soldier espousing the significance of de Gaulle's two military stars.

I was apprehensive toward this set since I wasn't enthralled by Black Girl (it was enjoyable but not as biting as I'd hoped), but one film in I'm intrigued by what's next.